LIBRARY 

OF  TIII-: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OF" 


Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALS  WORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions,  No.  S*Yr7S~*?.      Class  No. 


TTFI7ERSITT 


LAYS 


KIEK  AID   COVENANT. 


1.  itDwt 


"THERE  IS  ANOTHER  KING,  ONE  JESUS."— ACTS  xvn.  7, 


NEW   YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER   &    BROTHERS, 

285  BROADWAY. 


UHI7BRSIT7 


"  GOD   HATH    LAID   ENGAGEMENTS   UPON   SCOTLAND  ;    WE   ARE   TYED 

BY  COVENANTS  TO  RELIGION  AND  REFORMATION.  THOSE  THAT  WERE 
THEN  UNBORN,  ARE  YET  ENGAGED  ;  AND  IT  PASSETH  THE  POWER  OP 
ALL  THE  MAGISTRATES  UNDER  HEAVEN,  TO  ABSOLVE  FROM  THE  OATH 

OF   GOD." 

Dying  Testimony  of  the  Marquis  of  Argyle. 


"!T  is  OUR  LORD'S  WISDOM,  THAT  HIS   KIRK  SHOULD  EVER  HING 

BY  A  THREAD,  AND  YET  THE  THREAD  BREAKETTI  NOT,  BEING  HA\GED 
UPON  HIM  WHO  IS  THE  SURE  NAIL  IN  DAVID'S  HOUSE,*  UPON  WHOM 
ALL  THE  VESSELS,  GREAT  AND  SMALL,  DO  HANG,  AND  THE  NAIL 
(GrOD  BE  THANKED)  NEITHER  CROOKETH  NOR  CAN  BE  BROKEN.'' 

Rutherford's  Letters. 


PAGB 

1.  INTRODUCTION, 7 

2.  PATRICK  HAMILTON— THE  PROTOMARTYR  OP  SCOTLAND,  .  29 

3.  THE  CHILD  OP  JAMES  MELVILLE, 45 

4.  THE  WITNESS  STONES  OF  RUTHERFORD,     ....  55 

5.  THE  SIGNING  OF  THE  COVENANT. 73 

6.  THE  DEATHBED  OF  RUTHERFORD, 95 

7.  THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD, 105 

8.  PEDEN  AT  THE  GRAVE  OF  CAMERON,  .        .        .        .*  121 

9.  THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  JOHN  BROWN, 135 

10.  THE  MARTYRS  OF  WIGTON, 153 

11.  THE  LAST  WORDS  OF  HUGH  MACKAIL,       ....  205 

12.  THE  MERRIE  TRAGEDIE  OF  THE  YONGE  SANCT  G-EIL,       .  211 

13.  CAMERONIAN  DREAM, 237 


TJFI7BRSI 


INTRODUCTION. 


UHI7IRSITT 


"  Till  doomsday  shall  come,  they  shall  never  see  the  Kirk 
of  Scotland  and  our  Covenant  burnt  to  ashes;  or,  if  it 
should  be  thrown  in  the  fire,  yet  it  cannot  be  so  burnt  or 
buried  as  not  to  have  a  resurrection." — SAMUEL  RUTHERFORD. 


SCOTLAND  !  hallowed  in  thy  story — 
Who  would  trace  thine  annals  right — 

One  peculiar  page  of  glory, 
Ever  brightens  on  his  sight ! 

Not  the  honors — far  descended — 
•  Of  thine  ancient  hero  kings — 

Not  thy  bulwarks — blood  defended — 

These  are  but  thy  meaner  things ! 
1* 


10       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

True — the  pulse  exulting  nutters — 

True — our  souls  within  us  burn — 
Trumpet  names  as  Freedom  utters, 

Wallace — Bruce — and  Bannockburn  ! 
But  a  holier  joy  subdues  us, 

Tracing,  while  our  heartstrings  thrill, 
How  the  Saviour  deigned  to  choose  us — 

in  his  cause  to  suffer  still ! 
Honored  be  the  patriot  story  ! 

Well  may  Scottish  hearts  beat  high — 
Yet  a  far-excelling  glory, 

G-lads  the  heaven-anointed  eye — 
Heritage,  unbought — unpriced — 
Rich  in  the  reproach  of  Christ ! 


Early — early,  on  our  mountains, 
Presage  of  a  glorious  day, 


INTRODUCTION.  1  \ 


Pure,  as  from  its  native  fountains, 

Faintly  broke  the  Gospel  ray. 
Storm  and  cloud  the  pathway  covers, 

By  our  rude  forefathers  trod — 
Yet  that  dawning  brightness  hovers, 

Where  St.  Columb  walked  with  God : l 
Ever  broadening — ever  welling — 

From  lona's  holy  home 
Poured  the  radiance — sin-dispelling — 

Till  it  met  the  fogs  of  Rome ! 
Dark  eclipse  the  earth  then  shrouded, 

Lurid  phantasms  filled  the  air — 
But  the  glorious  sun,  though  clouded,2 

Shorn,  and  beamless,  still  was  there  ! 
Witness — many  a  faint  forewarning, 

•  Struggling  through  the  night  of  crime — 
Prescient  of  a  second  dawning — 

Of  the  Gospel's  noonday  prime. 


12  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Streaks,  that  like  the  northern  light, 
Shoot  in  promise  up  the  night ! 


Lo  !  it  comes  !  the  mist  hath  risen — 
Martyr  pyres  the  gloom  dispel ; 

Scotland  wakes,  and  bursts  her  prison, 
Lighted  by  the  flames  of  hell ! 

Rome  hath  wrought  her  own  undoing — 
Rome  infatuate  !  Rome  accurst ! 

All  her  fabric — one  vast  ruin — 
Crumbles  'neath  the  thunderburst ! 

Fierce  the  strife,  and  fierce  the  slaughter- 
Blood  her  rubbish  moistens  o'er — 

Even  till  error's  loveliest  daughter, 
Falls  upon  a  hostile  shore  ! 

Poor  forfeit  to  the  fatal  band,3 

Once  lightly  sealed  with  careless  hand  ! 


INTRODUCTION.  13 


Twice  crowned  Queen — thrice  wedded  wife — 
More  regal  in  her  death  than  life ! 


Now  the  infant  Church  hath  quiet — 

Surely  now  her  toils  may  cease  ! 
O'er  the  wild  waves'  rout  and  riot 

Broods  the  halcyon  wing  of  peace  ! 
Rome  hath  wrought  her  own  undoing ! 

Papal  fires  no  longer  blaze ! 
Ah  !  but  forth  the  mighty  ruin, 

What  new  portents  mar  our  gaze  ! 
Sin,  the  fiend  !  is  hydra-headed — 

Far  the  Church's  promised  rest>— 
Avarice,  with  ambition  wedded, 

Points  new  weapons  at  her  breast ! 
Brief  her  Murray's  true  upholding4 — 

Nor  tears  nor  prayers  protract  its  span  ; 


14      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

And  the  helm  falls  from  his  holding. 

Who  never  feared  the  face  of  man  !* 
While  myriad  mischiefs  swarming  spring, 
From  minions  of  a  minion  King ! 

Ah  !  the  eye  is  sick  with  seeing — 

Ah  !  the  heart  is  faint  with  fear — 
Clouds  athwart  the  horizon  fleeing — • 

Harbingers  of  tempest  near ! 
God  hath  laid  to  sleep  his  chosen — 

Who  the  mighty  shall  withstand  ? 
And  the  tide  of  faith  seems  frozen, 

In  the  winter  of  the  land  ! 
For  a  space  it  darkens — darkens — 

Hope  and  promise  in  the  tomb ! 
But  the  Lord  looks  down,  and  hearkens — 

Sobs  of  prayer  amid  the  gloom  ! 

*  John  Knox. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 


"  Nay,  my  people — not  forsaken, 

Though,  afflicted  sore  thou  art — 
Of  my  strength  thy  hold  is  taken — 

Thy  fresh  springs  are  in  my  heart ! 
From  the  deep  vault  of  the  prison — 

From  the  lone  isle  of  the  sea — 
From  thy  banished  ones  hath  risen, 

An  accepted  voice  to  me ! 
Chosen  in  affliction's  waters — 

Chosen  'neath  the  oppressor's  rod— 
I  have  scaled  thy  sons  and  daughters, 

In  a  covenant  with  God ! 
Pass  thou  on — a  sign  and  wonder — 

As  my  nation  was  of  yore — 
In  the  secret  place  of  thunder 

I  have  laid  thy  help  in  store ! 
Quit  thy  hold  of  earthly  favor, 

Touch  not  the  accursed  thing ! — 


16  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Monarchs  must  abhor  thy  savor, 

While  they  set  at  naught  thy  King  ! 
Part  not — halve  not  thine  allegiance, 

Till  I  come  to  claim  mine  own ; 
In  the  woe  of  thine  obedience, 

Bear  my  Cross — and  guard  my  Crown- 
All  its  thorns  in  thy  true  sight, 
Transfigured  into  beams  of  light  1" 


Thus,  a  witness  to  the  Churches, 

Scotland's  Church  hath  ever  been- 
Carnal  men,  with  vain  researches, 

Musing  what  the  sign  may  mean ! 
Like  her  Master — poor  and  lowly, 

Seeking  naught  of  price  below — 
All  she  claims,  with  freedom  holy, 

Still  about  His  work  to  go ; 


INTRODUCTION.  17 


Coveting  nor  wealth,  nor  station—- 
Terrible to  nought  but  sin — 

Mean  in  outward  estimation, 
She  is  glorious  within  ! 

Trace  her  unmolested  going — 
Csesar  finds  observance  meet ; — 

Living  waters  round  her  flowing, 
Oh,  how  beautiful  her  feet ! 

Hope,  o'er  those  broad  waters  gliding, 
Fast  pursues  the  waning  night — 

And  the  home  of  her  abiding, 
Gathers  still,  and  radiates  light ! 

Strange !  that  in  her  pathway  ever, 
Strifes  and  oppositions  spring  ; — 

Nay  !  she  sows  beside  the  river, 
And  her  shout  is  of  a  King ! 


0?  THE 

,_ . 


18      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Since  from  Herod's  couch  the  slumber, 

Parted  at  the  wise  men's  word — 
Kings  and  rulers  without  number, 

Band  themselves  against  the  Lord ! 
Tolls  a  death-knell  through  their  riot — 

Shakes  a  terror  'neath  their  scorn — 
And  they  seek,  with  vain  disquiet, 

For  the  Babe  in  Bethlehem  born  ! 
Hating  still,  in  deadliest  measure^ 

Who  that  rising  sceptre  own — 
Marring  all  their  pomp  and  pleasure, 

With  the  shadow  of  a  throne  ! 
True  !  they  kneel  with  feigned  behavior, 

Myrrh  and  frankincense  will  bring ; 
Priest  and  Prophet  own  the  Saviour — 

But — they  crucify  the  King  ! 
Wouldst  thou  hail  an  earthly  Master, 

Then  the  world  would  love  its  own  1 


INTRODUCTION.  19 


Grasp  thy  banner-truth  the  faster — 
See  that  no  man  take  thy  crown ! 


Hope  thou  not,  then,  earth's  alliance — 

Take  thy  stand  beside  the  Cross  ; — 
Fear,  lest  by  unblest  compliance, 

Thou  transmute  thy  gold  to  dross ! 
Steadfast  in  thy  meek  endurance, 

Prophesy  in  sackcloth  on — 
Hast  thou  not  the  pledged  assurance,     - 

Kings  one  day  shall  kiss  the  Son ! 
Oft  thy  foes  may  triumph  o'er  thee, 

Tread  thy  carcass  in  the  street, 
Sing  aloud  the  hate  they  bore  thee — 

Thou  shalt  stand  upon  thy  feet ! 
Life  through  all  thy  veins  returning, 

In  the  sight  of  those  who  doomed — 


20  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

And  the  Bush,  for  ever  burning, 
Never — never — be  consumed  ! 


Now  unto  the  hill-tops  get  thee — 
Whence  the  sunrise  we  descry — 

Nightly  on  thy  watchtower  set  thee, 
For  His  coming  draweth  nigh  ! 

Tell  the  nations  of  the  glory, 

Through  the  blackness  we  discern — 

Sound  a  trumpet  with  the  story, 
Of  the  King  who  shall  return  ! 

Call  to  Judah  in  her  blindness — 
Bid  benighted  Israel  hear — 

Drop  the  word  of  truth  and  kindness, 
On  the  heathen's  palsied  ear  ! 

Trim  thy  lamp — the  night-hours  cheering—- 
Wash thy  robes  from  every  stain — 


INTRODUCTION.  2 1 


"Watch,  to  hail  the  glad  appearing, 

Of  the  Bridegroom  and  his  train  ! 
Haste  !  thy  coming  Lord  to  greet — 
Cast  thy  crown  before  his  feet ; — 
Only,  may  his  quest  for  thee, 
Find  thee — what  he  made  thee — Free  ! 


tn  tjp  Sutrnhrtinii. 

NOTE   1. 

Yet  tliat  dawning  brightness  hovers — 
Where  St.  Columb  walked  with  God ! 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  that  more  than  one  of  the 
Churches,  lately  erected  by  the  extreme  section  of  the  Trac- 
tarian  party,  have  been  dedicated  to  the  "  Presbyter- Abbott" 
of  lona.  The  reason  of  this  it  is  not  easy  to  discover ;  for 
it  is  certain,  that  from  first  to  last,  nothing  but  antagonism 
subsisted  between  the  Culdees,  wherever  located,  and  the 
"  Mother  Church  of  Rome,"  with  which  our  Tractarians 
claim  kindred  so  tenderly,  and  from  which  they  deduce 
their  orders  and  apostolical  succession  so  exultingly.  Both 
in  doctrine  and  in  discipline  there  was  irreconcilable  dis- 
crepancy. The  Culdees  rejected  the  popish  tenets  of  auric- 
ular confession,  and  authoritative  absolution ;  teaching  the 
people  to  confess  their  sins  to  God  only,  and  believing  that 
He  alone  could  forgive  them.  They  opposed  the  belief  of 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

the  real  presence  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Supper — denounc- 
ed as  idolatrous  the  worship  of  saints,  angels,  and  relics — 
and  were  so  sensitive,  in  particular,  on  the  score  of  idolatry, 
that  they  would  not  permit  the  naming  of  their  churches 
after  any  angel  or  saint!  They  admitted  neither  prayers 
to,  nor  prayers  for  the  dead — strenuously  denied  the  popish 
dogma  concerning  works  of  supererogation — administered 
the  rite  of  baptism  with  any  water  that  might  be  conve- 
niently at  hand — knowing  nothing  of  the  "  consecrated 
chrism"  of  the  Romanists — and  altogether,  in  their  doc- 
trines and  form  of  church  government,  so  nearly  resembled 
the  Presbyterians  of  later  times,  that  their  differences  be- 
long rather  to  the  early  age  in  which  they  flourished,  than 
to  any  essential  variation  in  either  the  substance  or  the 
form  of  their  faith ; — and  we  may  recognize  them  affec- 
tionately as  our  ancestors,  by  their  strong  family  likeness 
to  ourselves — notwithstanding  the  quaint  habits  in  which 
they  are  vested,  and  the  gulf  of  ages  that  intervenes  be- 
tween their  day  and  our  own ! 


24      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


NOTE  2. 

But  the  glorious  sun,  though  clouded, 
Shorn,  and  beamless,  still  was  there  ! 

From  the  year  1297,  when  the  Culdees  of  St.  Andrews 
made  their  last  open  attempt  to  resist  the  usurpations  and 
oppressions  of  Eome,  to  the  burning  of  Patrick  Hamilton 
in  1528,  may  be  considered  as  the  darkest  period  of  Scottish 
Church  history.  But  even  during  this  dreary  season,  there 
were  many  indications  that  the  light  of  lona  was  not  extin- 
guished, but  only  hidden  under  a  bushel  fora  while,  till  the 
candlestick  was  prepared,  on  which  it  was  once  more  to 
shine  forth  with  brighter  effulgence  than  ever.  It  may  be 
sufficient  merely  to  recall  the  several  martyrdoms  of  Resby 
the  Englishman,  and  Craw  the  Bohemian,  who,  though  for- 
eigners themselves,  had  evidently  received  countenance  and 
kindly  entertainment  from  kindred  spirits  in  Scotland — and 
the  memorable  trial  of  the  Lollards  of  Kyle,  before  James 
IV.  in  1494,  the  very  amusing  details  of  which  may  be 
found  in  Knox's  History. 


INTRODUCTION.  25 


NOTE  3. 
Poor  forfeit  to  the  fatal  band,  &c. 

Alluding  to  the  infamous  League  of  Bayonne,  the  egg 
from  which  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  hatched, 
and  to  which  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  a  consenting  party  ! 
Assuredly,  if,  as  Lord  Lindsay  confidently  informs  us  (in  his 
Lives  of  the  Lindsays),  •"  her  bosom  was  the  fountain  of  all 
good  impulses,"  the  miracle  was  in  her  accomplished,  of  a 
"  fountain  sending  forth  at  the  same  place  sweet  water  and 
bitter ;"  and  we  musf  be  permitted,  though  with  regret  (for 
the  spell  of  her  beauty  and  misfortune  is  not  lightly  broken), 
rather  to  concur  in  the  opinion  of  John  Knox  when  he 
writes  to  Cecil,  "  I  wold  be  glad  to  be  deceaved ;  but  I  fear 
I  shall  not.  In  communication  with  her,  I  espyed  such 
craft  as  'I  have  not  found  in  such  aige."  It  is  painful  to  find 
a  writer,  usually  so  candid,  and  always  so  kindly,  as  Lord 
Lindsay,  denouncing  even  the  "  Good  Regent"  of  Scotland's 
holiest  memories,  as  "  the  cold  and  perfidious  Moray,"  in 
the  eagerness  of  his  onslaught  upon  all  who  arrested  the 
"  Rose  of  Scotland"  in  her  career  of  folly,  or  strove  to  pre- 
serve their  country  from  the  consequences  of  her  crimes ; 
but  "  there  is  a  talisman  in  that  word  Mary,"  and  when  we 
find  sober  historians,  metamorphosed  into  sentimental  apol- 
ogists for  sin,  falling  rabidly  upon  the  great  Reformer, 
2 


26       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Knox,  because  he  resisted  the  tears  with  which  a  passionate 
and  self-  willed  woman  endeavored  to  force  the  approval  his 
conscience  could  not  yield,  of  that  very  marriage  she  was 
herself  to  weary  of,  so  fatally  and  so  soon,  we  have  the  less 
cause  to  wonder  at  the  chivalrous  eagerness  with  which 
"  the  light  Lindsay"  buckles  on  his  armor,  to  do  his  devoir 
as  good  knight  and  true  in  her  defence  ! 

It  may  be  permitted,  in  conclusion,  to  quote  a  few  lines 
from  an  admirable  article  in  the  North  British,  Review  (No- 
vember 1845),  on  "  Mary  Stuart  and  her  Times,"  which  we 
consider  highly  apposite  to  the  subject : — "  Had  Mary  per- 
ished at  Langside,  when  her  banner  dragged  the  dust  never 
again  to  reappear,  she  would  not  perhaps  have  excited  so 
lasting  a  sympathy  for  her  misfortunes.  But  her  nineteen 
years  of  imprisonment,  and  her  tragic  death,  met  with  the 
brave  heroism  of  her  race,  have  created  for  her  defence  a 
morality,  that  neither  Plato  nor  the  Bible  owns  !" 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  the  catastrophe  of  Mary's 
sad  fate,  was  mainly  owing  to  her  being  the  willing  centre 
of  popish  intrigue  in  England — the  horrors  that  it  had  pro- 
duced, having  utterly  failed  to  disgust  her  with  the  league, 
to  which  she  had  so  long  before  affixed  her  name.  And 
little  as  we  can  sympathize  with,  or  excuse,  the  miserable 
feline  trifling  with  which  Elizabeth  coquetted  away,  first 
the  liberty,  and  then  the  life  of  her  victim,  we  cannot  but 
feel  that  it  was  the  ability,  and  not  the  inclination  of  the 
rival  Queens  to  destroy  each  other,  that  differed  so  widely. 
When  Elizabeth  signed  the  death-warrant  of  Fotheringay, 


INTRODUCTION.  27 


the  strong  instinct  of  self-preservation  (in  part  at  least) 
impelled  her  pen ! 


NOTE  4. 

Brief  her  Murray's  true  upholding — 
Nor  tears  nor  prayers  protract  its  span. 

In  January,  1570.  Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh,  as  the 
emissary  of  his  clan,  accomplished  the  cold-blooded  assas- 
sination of  the  good  Regent  Murray,  before  he  had  held 
the  reins  of  government  three  years ;  and  thus  the  hopes 
of  his  reviving  country  were  blasted  by  a  wretch  on  whom 
he  had  just  before  bestowed  his  forfeit  life.  "  The  story  so 
often  retailed,"  says  the  younger  Dr.  M'Crie,  in  a  note  to 
his  most  graphic  Sketches,  "  of  Regent  Murray's  cruelty  to 
Hamilton's  wife,  has  been  found  out  to  be  a  complete  for- 
gery, resting  solely  on  the  authority  of  Crawfurd's  Memoirs, 
a  book  which  has  been  proved  to  be  a  tissue  of  fabrications 
from  beginning  to  end.  Murray's  assassination  was  the 
result  of  a  plot,  in  which  the  lairds  of  Ferniherst  and  Buc- 
cleuch  had  a  chief  share.  One  of  their  followers,  on  the 
day  after  the  murder,  and  before  it  could  be  known  on  the 


28  LAYS    9  THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Borders,  said,  in  reply  to  another  who  threatened  him  with 
the  Regent's  displeasure,  '  Tush,  the  Regent  is  cauld  as  the 
bit  in  my  horse's  mouth.'  " 

John  Knox  did  not  long,  survive  the  death  of  his  friend. 
Grief  for  his  loss  preyed  upon  his  health  and  spirits.  In 
the  October  following-  he  was  stricken  with  apoplexy — a 
solemn  warning  that  the  tabernacle  was  about  to  be  taken 
down ;  and  in  November,  1572,  he  was  laid  in  his  grave — 
the  Regent  Morton  pronouncing  over  it  these  memorable 
words,  "  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man." 


PATRICK    HAMILTON. 


f fltrtrk  lurailtnit, 

THE   PROTOMARTYR  '  OF  SCOTLAND — (BoRN   1504- 
MARTYRED   1528.)  • 


THE  story  of  Patrick  Hamilton,  the  first  who  suffered 
death  in  Scotland  for-  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  is,  in  all 
its  circumstances,  one  of  the  most  touching  recorded  in  the 
blood-stained  annals  of  persecution.  The  son  of  Sir  Patrick 
Hamilton  of  Kincavil,  he  was  doubly  allied  to  royalty. 
Endowed  in  childhood  with  the  rich  Abbacy  of  Feme  ;  and 
tempted  by  the  dominant  superstition  with  the  prospect  of 
all  her  honors,  life  opened  upon  him,  clothed  in  manifold  al- 
lurements. His  bright  talents,  and  peculiarly  gentle  and  inof- 
fensive disposition,  strongly  inclined  him  to  a  life  of  lettered 
ease  and  retirement,  perfectly  compatible  with  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  dignities ;  but,  like  the  young  man  in  the  Gos- 
pel, he  came  to  Jesus ;  not  like  him  to  go  away  again  sor- 


32  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

rowful,  "  because  he  had  great  possessions  :" — but  to  count 
all  things  as  loss  "  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
that  blessed  name ;"  and  to  offer  himself,  a  most  willing 
sacrifice,  on  the  altar  of  his  country's  regeneration. 

After  three  years  spent  on  the  Continent  (then  the 
focus  of  light,  as  now,  alas  !  the  centre  of  darkness),  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  friendship -and  instructions  of  the 
leading  Reformers,  especially  of  Francis  Lambert  at  his 
College  of  Marburg,  his  Scottish  heart,  yearning  over  his 
benighted  countrymen,  drew  him  home ;  and  he  returned 
in  spite  of  the  dangers  whiclj  inevitably  threatened  him ; 
and  of  which  his  friends  seem  to  have  given  him  earnest 
and  affectionate  warning.  With  a  single  attendant,  he  land- 
ed in  Scotland ; — for  a  brief  period,  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  giving  his  public  testimony  to  the  truth ;  and  then,  fall- 
ing, as  it  appears,  into  a  snare  of  the  Beatons*  (for  whose 
craft  his  simple  upright  nature  was  no  match),  he  suffered 
them  to  decoy  him  to  their  stronghold  of  St.  Andrews,  un- 
der pretext  of  a  free  conference,  and  there,  seized  by  their 
treachery,  and  subjected  to  a  mock  trial,  he  was  burned 
to  death  in  front  of  the  College  of  St.  Salvador,  on  the  last 
day  of  February,  1528,  when  only  in  the  twenty-fourth  year 
of  his  age. 

Lest  the  king  (James  V.)  should  interfere  to  save  the  life 
of  so  near  a  relation,  he  had  been  artfully  persuaded  by  the 


*  J  ames,  the  celebrated  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  and  David, 
his  nephew  and  successor,  the  yet  more  celebrated  Cardinal. 


PATRICK    HAMILTON.  33 

priests  to  undertake  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Dothess,  or  Duthack,  in  Ross-shire,  and  having  thus  got  him 
out  of  the  way,  the  Beatons  hastened  the  execution  of  their 
inhuman  purpose  ;  being,  however,  so  anxious  to  secure  an 
apparent  sanction  to  their  proceedings,  that  they  compelled, 
among  others,  the  young  Earl  of  Oassilis,  a  child  of  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  to  sign  the  warrant  which  sent  the  mar- 
tyr to  the  stake!  But  "the  flames  in  which  he  expired," 
says  Pinkerton,  "  were,  in  the  coarse  of  one  generation,  to 
enlighten  all  Scotland,  and  to  consume  with  avenging  fury 
the  Catholic  superstition,  the  Papal  power,  and  the  Prelacy 
itself!"  . 


THE  King  is  away  to  St.  Dothess'  shrine — 

On  a  pilgrimage  he's  gone  ; — 
Pie  hath  left  the  Beatons  place  and  power 

And  they'll  burn  young  Hamilton ! 

Oh  !  young  Hamilton — from  beyond  the  sea 
He  hath  strange  new  doctrines  brought ; — 
And  our  Father  the  Pope  says, — such  heretics 

Are  easier  burned  than  taught ! 

2* 


34      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

He  hath  preached  once — he  hath  preached  twice, 
And  the  people  were  fain  to  hear : — 

For,  as  rain  on  the  new-mown  grass,  his  voice 
Comes  down  on  the  charmed  ear ! 

And  he  tells  us  not — as  our  begging  friars, 
Of  indulgence  the  price  of  gold ; — 

But  he  speaks  of  a  pardon,  as  sunlight  free, 
That  can  neither  be  bought  nor  sold ! 

And  he  tells  us  not — of  our  Ladye's  grace, 

By  aves  and  penance  won ; — 
But  he  points  the  way  to  the  Father's  heart, 

Through  the  shed  blood  of  the  Son ! — 

No  crucifix  in  his  hand  he  waves — 

Nor  relic  nor  chaplet  wears  ; — 
And  he  spends  no  worship  on  dead  men's  bones, 

No  faith  upon  dead  men's  prayers  ! — 


PATRICK    HAMILTON.  35 

All  intercessors  'twixt  earth  and  heaven, 

•Save  Jesus — God's  only  One — 
He  would  scatter,  as  marsh-raised  mists  are  driven 

From  the  path  of  the  glorious  sun. 

And  ever  he  reads  in  the  Book  of  God, 

As  his  very  breath  it  were — 
And,  oh  !  if  his  doctrine  be  heresy, 

'Tis  strange  he  should  find  it  there  ! 

And  ever  some  burthened  souls  and  poor, 

Avouch  that  his  words  are  sooth  ! 
And,  oh  !  if  his  doctrine  be  heresy, 

Dear  Lord  !  that  it  were  but  truth  ! — 

— They  have  lured  him  on  to  St.  Andrew's  town, 
With  their  cunning  words  and  fair  ; — 

In  the  dead  of  the  night,  when  good  men  sleep, 
They  have  seized  and  bound  him  there  ! 


36  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

— James  Beaton  he  sits  on  his  throne  of  state, 

And  David  he  sits  beside  ; — 
Was  never  a  bloodier  Prelate  yet, 

Trained  on  by  a  bloodier  guide  ! 

And  knights  and  nobles  are  all  around — 

This  world  with  its  braverie  ; 
It  pranked  not  thus  in  the  path  of  Him, 

Whose  throne  was  the  cursed  tree  ! 

And  young  Hamilton  stands  in  his  light  of  youth, 

With  his  calm  and  holy  brow ; 
And  it  seems  as  the  Father's  name  of  love 

Were  beaming  from  it  now  ! 

But  once  he  spake  as  his  doom  they  signed, 
When  Cassilis'  young  Earl  drew  near ; 

"  God  charge  not  my  blood  on  thy  soul,  poor  child — 
And  forgive  who  brought  thee  here  !" 


PATRICK    HAMILTON.  37 

• — They  have  hasted  down  by  the  College  wall, — 

With  fagots  they  pile  the  sod ; — 
But  there  are  sore  hearts  for  the  blood  of  kings — 

Sore  hearts  for  the  truth  of  God  I 

And  many  are  gazing  in  silent  awe, 

With  thoughts  that  they  may  not  speak ; — 

As  men  who  awaken  to  feel  a  chain, 
Erewhile  they  must  die  or  break  ! 

The  friars  are  mustered — white,  grey,  and  brown — 

A  motley,  exulting  band ; — 
But  all  eyes  are  turned  on  one  Black  Friar, I 

Who  strides  at  the  Martyr's  hand — 

"  Convert !"  «  Convert!"  cried  the  Black  Friar, 
"  And  sue  for  our  Ladye's  grace  !"— - 

But  ever  the  light  of  that  holy  brow, 
Chased  the  life-blood  from  his  face  ! — 


38       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Yet  he  set  as  a  stone  his  cold  grey  eye, 

And  he  fixed  his  cold  white  face ; — 
And  louder  he  clamored — "  Convert !"  "  Convert !" 

"  And  sue  for  our  Ladye's  grace  !" — 

— One  moment  that  death  procession  paused — 

For  a  cry  rose  hoarse  and  wild — 
As  an  old  man  burst  through  the  serried  crowd. 

And  wept  like  an  orphaned  child  ! 

Full  gently  his  hand  did  the  martyr  lay. 

On  that  old  man's  hoary  brow — 
"Grood  friend,  thou  didst  never  forsake  me  yet, 

And  thou  hast  not  failed  me  now  !" 

— "  These  weeds  in  the  fire  will  not  profit  me — 

But  thee  they  may  profit  still ; 
And  weep  not  so  sore  for  thy  master's  doom — 

He  but  bears  his  Master's  will ! 


PATRICK   HAMILTON.  39 

a  But  remember  thou — and  remember  all — 

Good  countrymen,  standing  near — 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  will  deny  in  heaven 

Who  shall  shrink  to  own  him  here  ! — 

"  And  sorrow  no  more  for  the  young  life  quenched, 

At  a  priestly  tyrant's  nod — 
No  hurt  is  theirs  in  the  sevenfold  fire, 

Who  walk  with  the  Son  of  God  I" 

Still  "Convert!"  "Convert!"  roared  the  Black  Friar, 

As  they  bound  him  to  the  stake  ; 
But  he  met  a  glance  from  the  Martyr's  eye — 

And  it  made  the  Black  Friar  shake ! 

"  Thou  evil  man  !  in  thy  heart  of  hearts — 

Thou  art  witnessing  a  lie — 
To  me  hast  thou  owned,  that  for  God's  good  truth — 

I  am  called  this  day  to  die  ! 


40       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

r;  To  His  judgment-seat — I  appeal  thee  now, — - 

Thy  doom  at  His  hand  to  take  !" 
There  fell  a  mist  on  the  Black  Friar, 

And  he  staggered  from  the  stake ! 

The  dry  wood  crackled — the  flame  rose  high — 
One  groan  from  the  breathless  crowd; 

But  a  voice  came  forth  from  the  mantling  fire,2 
As  a  trumpet,  clear  and  loud  ! 

"  How  long,  0  my  Grod  !  shall  this  darkness  brood? 

How  long  wilt  Thou  stay  Thine  hand  ? — 
Now  gather  my  soul  to  its  rest  with  Thee — 

And  shine  on  my  native  land  !" 

As  the  flame  rose  higher,  the  daylight  paled, 

With  a  wan  and  sickly  light  ; 
And  an  old  man  sat  by  the  blackened  sod — 

Alone — in  the  dews  of  night ! 


PATRICK    HAMILTON.  41 

But  a  few  brief  vigils  had  barely  flown, 
Since  that  martyr  passed  to  heaven  ; — 

When  the  Black  Friar  died  a  despairing  man, 
His  brain  all  frenzy-riven  ! 

And  even  amid  his  dark-stoled  feres 
Did  the  whispered  word  pass  on  ; — 

"  He  is  gone,  to  meet  at  the  bar  of  God — 
With  Patrick  Hamilton  !" 

And  one  who  dared  mutter  a  biting  gibe 

In  the  Primate's  ear — quoth  he, 
"  When  ye  next  shall  burn,  my  good  lord,  I  pray, 

In  a  deep  vault  let  it  be ! 

"  For  it  seemeth  as  if  the  clouds  of  heaven, 

Dropped  heresy  with  their  dew ; 
And  the  smoke  of  young  Patrick  Hamilton, 

Hath  infected  where'er  it  blew !" 
1847. 

^0* 


, 

+  \.  •  JI 


to  f  atrirk  laiiltns. 

NOTE   1. 

But  all  eyes  are  turned  on  one  Black  Friar. 

"  But  most  of  all  he  was  greved  by  certane  wicked  men, 
amongis  whome  Campbell  the  Blak  Freir  was  principall, 
who  continuallie  cryed,  l  Convert,  heretick :  call  upoun  our 
Lady :  say  Salve  Kegina,'  etc. :  To  whome  he  answered, 
(  Departe,  and  trouble  me  not,  ye  messingeris  of  Sathan.' 
Bott  whill  that  the  foirsaid  Freir  still  roared  one  thing  in 
great  vehemency,  he  said  unto  him,  '  Wicked  man,  thou 
knowis  the  contrair,  and  the  contrair  to  me  thou  hast  con- 
fessed :  I  appeall  thee  befoir  the  tribunall  seatt  of  Jesus 
Christ  i'  *****  The  said  Freir  departed  this  lyif 
within  few  dayis  after,  in  what  estait  we  refer  to  the  mani- 
festation of  the  general  day.  But  it  was  plainlie  knawin 
that  he  dyed  in  Glaskow,  in  a  phrenesye,  and  as  one  dis- 
pared." — JOHN  KNOX'S  Historic. 


PATRICK    HAMILTON.  43 


NOTE  2. 

But  a  voice  came  forth  from  the  mantling  fire, 
As  a  trumpet  clear  and  loud ! 

"  At  length  the  fire  was  kindled,  and,  amidst  the  noise 
and  fury  of  the  flames,  he  was  distinctly  heard  pronouncing 
these  last  words,  '  How  long,  0  Lord  !  shall  darkness  cover 
this  realm  ?  How  long  wilt  thou  suifer  this  tyranny  of  men  1 
Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  Spirit  I"'— MARIE'S  Sketches  of 
Church  History, 


THE  CHILD  OF  JAMES  MELVILLE. 


Df 
BORN  JULY  9,  1586 — DIED  ABOUT  JANUARY,  1588. 


"  This  page,  if  thou  be' a  pater  (parent-father)  that  reads 
it,  thou  wilt  apardone  me ;  if  nocht,  suspend  thy  censure 
till  thou  be  a  father,  as  said  the  grave  Lacedaemonian  Agesi- 
laus." — Autobiography  of  James  Melville. 

ONE  time — my  soul  was  pierced  as  with  a  sword — 
Contending  still  with  men  untaught  and  wild — 

When  He  who  to  the  prophet  lent  his  gourd, 
Gave  me  the  solace  of  a  pleasant  child  ! 

A  summer  gift — my  precious  flower  was  given — 
A  very  summer  fragrance  was  its  life  ; 

Its  clear  eyes  soothed  me  as  the  blue  of  heaven. 
When  home  I  turned — a  weary  man  of  strife  ! 


48  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

With  unformed  laughter — musically  sweet — 
How  soon  the  wakening  babe  would  meet  my  kiss ; 

With  outstretched  arms,  its  care-wrought  father 

greet — 
Oh  !  in  the  desert,  what  a  spring  was  this ! 

A  few  short  months  it  blossomed  near  my  heart — 
A  few  short  months — else  toilsome  all,  and  sad  ; 

But  that  home  solace  nerved  me  for  my  part, 
And  of  the  babe  I  was  exceeding  glad ! 

Alas  !  my  pretty  bud,  scarce  formed,  was  dying — 
(The  prophet's  gourd — it  withered  in  a  night !) 

And  He  who  gave  me  all — my  heart's  pulse  trying — 
Took  gently  home  the  child  of  my  delight ! 

Not  rudely  culled — not  suddenly  it  perished — 
But  gradual  faded  from  our  love  away  ! 

As  if,  still,  secret  dews,  its  life  that  cherished, 
Were  drop  by  drop  withheld — and  day  by  day  ! 


THE    CHILD    OF    JAMES    MELVILLE.  49 

My  blessed  Master  saved  me  from  repining, 
So  tenderly  He  sued  me  for  His  own — 

So  beautiful  He  made  my  babe's  declining — 
Its  dying  blessed  me  as  its  birth  had  done  ! 

And  daily  to  my  board  at  noon  and  even, 
Our  fading  flower  I  bade  his  mother  bring, 

That  we  might  commune — of  our  rest  in  heaven  ; 
Grazing  the  while  on  death — without  its  sting  f 

And  of  the  ransom  for  that  baby  paid — 
So  very  sweet  at  times  our  converse  seemed, 

That  the  sure  truth — of  grief  a  gladness  made — 
Our  little  lamb — by  God's  own  Lamb  redeemed  ! 

— There  were  two  milkwhite  doves — my  wife  had 
nourished, 

And  I  too  loved,  erewhile,  at  times  to  stand — 
Marking  how  each  the  other  fondly  cherished — 

And  fed  them  from  my  baby's  dimpled  hand ! 
3 


50  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

So  tame  they  grew — that  to  his  cradle  flying — 
Full  oft  they  cooed  him  to  his  noontide  rest ; 

And  to  the  murmurs  of  his  sleep  replying, 
Crept  gently  in,  and  nestled  in  his  breast ! 

'Twas  a  fair  sight — the  snow-pale  infant  sleeping, 
So  fondly  guardianed  by  those  creatures  mild  ; 

Watch  o'er  his  closed  eyes — their  bright  eyes 
keeping — 

Wondrous  the  love  betwixt  the  birds  and  child  ! 

Still  as  he  sickened — seemed  the  doves  too  dwin- 
ing— 

Forsook  their  food,  and  loathed  their  pretty  play  ; 
And  on  the  day  he  died — with  sad  note  pining, 
One  gentle  bird  would  not  be  frayed  away ! 

His  mother  found  it — when  she  rose,  sad-hearted, 
At  early  dawn — with  £ense  of  near  ing  ill ; 


THE    CHILD    OF    JAMES    MELVILLE.  51 

And  when,  at  last,  the  little  spirit  parted. 
The  dove  died  too — as  if  of  its  heart  chill ! 

The  other  UGAV  to  meet  rny  sad  home  riding, 
As  with  a  human  sorrow  in  its  coo  ; — 

To  my  dead  child — and  its  dead  mate  then  guiding, 
Most  pitifully  plained — and  parted  too  ! 

'Twas  my  first  "hansel"*  and  "propine"f  to  heaven  ! 

And  as  I  laid  my  darling  'neath  the  sod — 
Precious  His  comforts — once  an  infant  given — 

And  offered  with  two  turtle-doves  to  God ! 

*  Present.  t  Earnest,  pledge. 


Mi  to  tju  dpi  nf  Smtra 


September  27,  1849. 

The  characters  of  the  two  Melvilles  are  beautifully  con- 
trasted in  history.  Andrew,  the  fiery  uncle,  who  ventured 
to  tell  his  king,  when  usurping  authority  over  the  free 
Church  of  Christ,  that  he  was  but  "  God's  sillie  (weak)  vas- 
sal ;"  and  James,  the  gentle  nephew,  who  says  of  himself 
on  the  same  occasion,  that  he  was  employed  to  speak  for 
the  rest,  because  "  I  could  propone  the  mater  in  a  mild  and 
smooth  manner,  quhilk  the  king  lyked  best  of."  The  one 
was  the  complement  of  the  other  —  much  as  Melancthon  was 
of  Luther  —  and  (Ecolampadius  of  Zuingle  •  and  it  is  most 
interesting  to  observe,  how,  in  times  of  trial  and  emergency 
to  His  Church,  it  has  been  the  Lord's  usual  (though  by  no 
means  invariable)  method  to  send  forth  his  servants  like 
the  seventy  of  old  —  two  and  two  —  to  their  work.  The  ten- 
derest  affection  united  the  Melvilles.  Their  family  love  and 


THE    CHILD    OF    JAMES    MELVILLE.  53 

• 

union  stands  out  in  affecting  contrast  to  the  stormy  aspect 
of  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  and  the  rough  work  of  the 
sanctuary  in  which  they  were  necessarily  engaged — building 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem  with  their  weapons  ever  in  their 
hands.  In  extracting  the  preceding  beautiful  incident  from 
the  "  Autobiography  of  James  Melville,"  the  aim  has  been 
to  present  in  a  modern  garb,  one  out  of  many  of  the  touches 
of  feeling  and  nature  contained  in  that  delightful  work,  in 
the  hope  that  it  may  lead  some  to  search  for  themselves  in- 
to its  treasures,  unscared  by  the  ill  repute  for  controversial 
bitterness  and  want  of  refinement,  under  which  the  works 
of  our  Scottish  Reformers,  without  even  a  hearing  in  their 
defence,  have  been  too  generally  consigned  to  the  shelf ! 


THE  WITNESS  STONES  OF  RUTHERFORD 


of 


"  Woods,  trees,  meadows,  and  hills,  are  my  witnesses,  that  I 
drew  on  a  fair  match  between  Christ  and  Anworth." — RUTHER- 
FORD'S Letters. 

SAMUEL  RUTHERFORD  became  Minister  of  Anworth  in 
Galloway  in  1627.  It  is  related,  that  on  first  coming  to  the 
parish,  there  was  a  piece  of  ground  on  Mossrobin  farm, 
where  on  Sabbath  afternoon  the  people  used  to  play  at  foot- 
ball. On  one  occasion  he  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  pointed 
out  their  sin,  calling  on  the  objects  round  to  be  witnesses 
against  them  if  they  persevered,  especially  three  large 
stones  (Josh.  xxiv.  27),  two  of  which  still  remain,  and  are 
called  "  Rutherford's  Witnesses." — Vide  Rev.  A.  BONAR'S 
Edition  of  Rutherford's  Letters. 

IT  is  a  summer  Sabbath  time — 
And  o'er  Cairnharrow's  lofty  brow, 

The  summer  noontide  at  its  prime, 
Floateth  in  purple  radiance  now ; 


58  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

While  on  Ben  Devan's  distant  crest, 
One  stainless  cloud  hath  come  to  rest ; 
And  o'er  fair  isle,  and  gleaming  sea, 
Distills  a  glad  tranquillity  ! 


0  !  hearts  that  God  hath  touched  can  tell, 

How  o'er  this  earth — in  ruin  laid — 
Still  breathes,  at  times,  the  Sabbath  spell, 

'Mid  sin  and  sorrow  undecayed  ! 
What  sympathies  in  earth  and  air, 
With  man's  appointed  rest  there  are — 
And  how  a  light  comes  down  from  heaven, 
To  crown  the  day  that  God  hath  given  ! 


— The  preacher's  voice  but  now  is  still — 
His  hearers  take  their  various  way  ; 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  59 

Some  skirt  the  shore — some  climb  the  hill — 

Some  turn  them  to  the  woods  to  pray ; — 
For  still  the  greenwood's  quivering  screen, 
A  very  Bethel  oft  hath  been, 
Where  Scotland's  peasant  saints  have  found, 
That  all  God's  earth  is  holy  ground  ! 


And  many  a  germ  of  faith  and  prayer, 

And  many  a  truth  instinct  with  power, 
The  contrite  heart  away  may  bear, 

To  feed  on  in  its  lonely  hour ; 
For  he,  whose  tones  upon  the  ear1 
Yet  vibrate — fraught  with  love  and  fear, 
Is  one,  whose  words  of  living  flame, 
A  baptism  of  fire  proclaim  ! 


60  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Oh  !  early  bathed  in  light  and  love  ! 

Oh  !  early  tuned  to  praise  and  prayer  ! 
How  soared  thine  ardent  soul  above, 

To  bask  it  in  the  God-light  there ! 
How  seemed  it — that  thy  spirit  pressed 
At  times  so  near  thy  Saviour's  breast, 
That  mortal  speech  all  powerless  fell, 
Struggling  with  love — unspeakable  ! 


And  yet  again,  so  simply  clear, 

The  gospel-message  thou  couldst  speak, 

That  childhood's  heart — and  childhood's  ear, 
Gave  heed  in  comprehension  meek  ; 

And  many  a  soul  long  dead  in  sin, 

Felt  stirrings  of  new  life  within  ! 

And  learned  to  count  all  gain  a  loss, 

That  stood  between  it  and  the  Cross  ! 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  61 

But  ah  !  if  even  the  Master's  word. 

So  often  all  unheeded  fell — 
How  shall  the  servant's  voice  be  heard, 

Where  still  abides  the  strong  man's  spell ! 
Save  when  the  Spirit  in  His  might, 
Moves  o'er  the  soul — commanding  light — 
How  vain  the  glorious  truth  we  find — 
As  sunrise  bursting  o'er  the  blind ! 


— His  lot  hath  fallen  on  evil  days, 
For  subtle  mischiefs  are  abroad ; 
That  Judas-like — a  thousand  ways — 

First  kiss — and  then  betray  their  Lord  ! 
Mocking  a  faith — still  lip  profest — 
Sapping  the  Sabbath's  sacred  rest — 
That  waymark — from  creation  given, 
To  point,  and  guard,  the  road  to  heaven ! 


62       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  ANT)  COVENANT. 

'Tis  an  old  strife — but  oft  renewed — 
For  Satan  knows  his  vantage  well ! 
Might  he  but  blast  that  heavenly  good, 

Earth  were  but  one  vast  porch  for  hell ! 
And  well  he  bears  with  them  that  pray, 
So  they  will  but  "  arise  and  play ;" 
He  gains  the  whole — in  filching  half — 
God's  Israel  serves  the  golden  calf ! 


— The  preacher's  voice  but  now  is  still — 
His  flock  is  scattering  far  and  near ; 

But  oh  !  of  those  who  climb  t'he  hill, 
How  jars  the  laughter  on  his  ear  ! 

Young  spirits  stout  in  nature's  pride, 

All  vain  remonstrance  scoffed  aside — 

Disciples  of  that  easy  time, 

Trained  on,  in  Folly's  school,  to  crime ! 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  63 


And  lie  is  gone  apart  to  pray, 

As  often  he  hath  prayed  before  ; 
"  A  king  hath  warranted  their  play,* — 
Lord  Jesus  art  Thou  King  no  more  1 
Still  must  I  vainly  strive  to  keep, 
In  Thy  great  name,  these  few  poor  sheep ; 
Thy  love — Thy  grace — all  vainly  tell, 
While  they  sport  madly  on  to  hell !" 

«  Oh  Thou  !  oh  Thou  !  mine  Holy  One  ! 

Hast  Thou  not  power  in  earth  and  heaven  ? 
And  wilt  Thou  not — from  Thy  high  throne, 

Still  guard  the  blessing  thou  hast  given  ? — • 
Nor  let  the  tempting  fiend  invade, 
The  Sabbath  Thou  for  man  hast  made — 
That  one  brief  day,  redeemed  and  blessed, 
"When  fell  the  curse  o'er  all  the  rest  ?" 

*  Referring  to  the  "  Book  of  Sports." 


64      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

—The  laugh  is  loud — the  day  is  bright, 
The  ball  is  glancing  here  and  there — 
Young  limbs  are  fleet — y.oung  hearts  are  light — 

What  reck  they  of  a  bigot's  prayer  ? — 
And  yet  an  awe  of  shame  there  fell. 
Even  on  the  boldest — like  a  spell — 
When  issuing  sudden  from  the  wood, 
Full  in  their  midst  the  Pastor  stood ! 


"  The  steed  his  six  days'  work  hath  done, — 

He  gambols  in  his  paddock  field  ; 
The  young  lambs  sport  beneath  the  sun — 
Such  as  they  have  to  Grod  they  yield — 
The  o'erburthened  beast  lies  down  to  rest, 
Enjoys  his  Sabbath — and  is  blest ; — 
If  ye  be  even  such  as  they, 
Then  find  your  pleasure  while  ye  may  ! 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  65 

But  if  that  thing  ye  bear  within, 

For  which  a  Grod  came  down  to  die ; — 

That — washed  in  blood,  or  foul  with  sin, — 
Must  share  His  own  eternity  ! — 

If  shrinks  in  every  guilty  breast, 

Even  as  I  speak,  that  conscious  guest— 

Upon  your  souls  the  charge  I  lay, 

Ye  spurn  not  at  the  Sabbath-day ! 


"  My  Master's  grace  this  day  hath  given, 

That  even  the  dead  His  voice  may  hear — 
And  now,  as  sinners  unforgiven, 

I  summon  you — to  turn — and  fear  ! 
And  these  gray  stones  on  either  hand — 
God's  witnesses  between  us  stand — 
If  this  my  warning  be  withstood, 
That  I  am  pure  from  your  souls'  blood !" 


66      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT, 

— The  wood  receives  him  from  their  sight — 
His  thrilling  tones  are  heard  no  more  ; — 
Words  are  but  words — the  day  is  bright — 

On  with  the  pastime  as  before ! 
But  those  gray  watchers  standing  by, 
Still  keep  their  witness  silently — 
And  a  strange  awe  the  boldest  own, 
Rebuked  in  presence  of  a  stone  ! 


Oh !  conscience  is  a  wondrous  .thing. 

When  God  awakes  it  in  its  might — 
The  undying  worm — whose  full-grown  sting, 

Through  lost  eternity  shall  smite  ! — 
A  bulrush,  in  the  Spirit's  hand, 
Becomes  a  sceptre  of  command  ; — 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  67 

As  sands,  outstretched  by  God's  decree, 
Bind  the  illimitable  sea ! 


— Green  Anworth  keeps  her  Sabbath  rest, 

Through  many  a  change  of  good  and  ill ; — 
Outwearied — on  his  Saviour's  breast 

He  sleeps — whose  name  embalms  her  still ! 
And  martyr  graves  beneath  the  sod, 
Hold  some — his  first-fruits  unto  God  ; 
And  only  grayhaired  sires  can  tell, 
"  In  their  bairn  days  they  loved  him  well !" 


But  children's  children  still  they  bring, 
When  summer  bells  are  in  the  grass ; 

And  the  young  woods  are  showering 
Sweet  fragrance  o'er  them  as  they  pass, 


68  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK   AND    COVENANT. 

To  gaze  on  those  old  stones — and  hear, 
What  .silent  witness  yet  they  bear, 
As  generations  fleet  away, 
How  Anworth  keeps  her  Sabbath-day  ! 

And  now  a  sadder  tale  they  tell, 

One  watcher  missing  in  its  place;2 
And  the  strange  doom  that  him  befell, 

Who — scoffing — hurled  it  from  its  base  !- 
And  many  a  cheek  is  blanched  with  fear, 
And  deeper  reverence  still  they  bear, 
For  each  remaining  witness  stone, — 
More  hallowed  for  the  one  that's  gone ! 

0  Scotland !  home  of  Sabbath  rest ! 

Thy  mountains  still  about  thee  stand — 
To  witness,  how  thou  hast  been  blest, 

In  keeping  Eden's  light  command ! — 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  69 

Woe  !  when  our  eyes  despised  shall  see. 
That  sign*  between  thy  God  and  thee — 
One  Sabbath  sanction  overthrown, 
Or  scoffers  move — one  Witness  stone  ! 
1847. 


*  Ezekiel  xx.  12. — "  Moreover  also  I  gave  them  my  sabbaths, 
to  be  a  sign  between  me  and  them,  that  they  might  know  that  I 
am  the  Lord  that  sanctify  them." — Vide  also  Exodus  xxxi.  13. 


JSnfes  to  tljB  Sfttntss  itnnra  nf 


NOTE   1. 

For  lie,  whose  tones  upon  the  ear 

Yet  vibrate  —  fraught  with  love  and  fear. 

A  London  merchant,  a  native  of  England,  having  come 
down  to  Scotland  in  the  course  of  business,  repaired  to  St. 
Andrews,  where  he  heard  Robert  Blair  preach.  He  after- 
wards heard  Samuel  Rutherford.  On  the  Sabbath  follow- 
ing he  went  to  Irvine,  where  he  heard  David  Dickson. 
When  he  returned  to  London,  his  friends  asked  him,  What 
news  from  Scotland  1  to  whom  he  replied,  That  he  had 
great  and  good  news  to  tell  them.  They  little  suspected 
what  these  tidings  might  be,  as  hitherto  he  had  been  care- 
less about  religion.  He  told  them,  that  at  St.  Andrews  he 
had  heard  one  Mr.  Blair  preach,  and,  after  describing  his 


THE    WITNESS    STONES    OF    RUTHERFORD.  71 

features  and  stature,  he  added,  "  That  man  showed  me  the 
majesty  of  God.  I  afterwards  heard,"  continued  he,  "  a 
little  fair  man  preach  (Mr.  Rutherford),  and  thai  man  show- 
ed me  ibe  loveliness  of  Christ.  Then  I  came  and  heard  at 
Irvine,  a  well-favored,  proper  old  man  with  a  long  beard, 
and  that  man  showed  me  all  my  heart !" 


NOTE  2. 

And  now  a  sadder  tale  they  tell. 
One  watcher  missing  in  its  place. 

It  is  related  that  some  workmen  building  a  new  dyke  on 
the  farm  of  Mossrobin,  were  in  want  of  stones  for  their 
work.  One  of  them,  who  was  a  profane  character,  proposed 
making  use  of  "  Rutherford's  Witnesses,"  as  they  were  call- 
ed, which  stood  near  at  hand.  His  companions  rejected  the 
proposition  with  horror,  when  the  man,  stimulated  by  the 
bad  ambition  of  showing  himself  superior  to  the  fear  of 
God,  wished,  with  dreadful  imprecations,  that  the  first  mor- 
sel he  took  might  choke  him,  if  he  did  not  build  one  of  the 
stones  into  the  dyke  before  breakfast.  He  accordingly 
broke  up  the  stone,  and  accomplished  his  threat :  but  the 


~~ — — — ~ 


72  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

story  adds,  that  on  sitting  down  to  his  meal,  and  putting  the 
first  morsel  into  his  mouth,  he  suddenly  turned  black  in 
the  face,  fell  back,  and  expired.  It  will  easily  be  guessed 
the  two  other  "  Witnesses"  remain  to  this  day. 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT 


Greyfriars'  Churchyard,  Edinburgh. 


iigiiing  of  tip  (tarairat  in  tip 


March  1,  1638. 

"  This  was  the  day  of  the  Lord's  power,  in  which  multi- 
tudes offered  themselves  most  willingly,  like  the  dewdrops 
of  the  morning — this  was,  indeed,  the  great  day  of  Israel, 
wherein  the  arm  of  the  Lord  was  revealed — the  day  of  the 
Redeemer's  strength,  on  which  the  princes  of  the  people 
assembled  to  swear  their  allegiance  to  the  King  of  kings." — 
ALEXANDER  HENDERSON. 

I'M  old  !  I'm  old  !  I'm  very  frail !  my  eyes  are  dim 

with  'age — 
Scarce  can   I  trace  the  words  of   life  upon  this 

sacred  page ; 


76       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Then  out  upon  the  unquiet  heart ! — that  yearns, 

and  will  not  rest, 
To  be  where  Scotland  rallies  now  her  truest  and 

her  best ! 

I  heard  them  with  the  earliest  dawn  !  I  heard  them 

gathering  fast — 
A  sound,  as  on  the  mighty  sea,  the  menace  of  the 

blast — 
A  mingled  sound  of  thousand  feet,  and  voices  blent 

in  one, 
And  on  the  living  spring-tide  swept — and  I  was 

left  alone ! 


Alone !  alone !  oh  wearily  the  day  hath  lingered  by  ! 
With  now  and  then  a  far-off  shout,  cleaving  the 
distant  sky : 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  77 

Yet  have  I  wrestled  with  my  God — some  hours  as 

moments  past ; 
But  age  halts  soon — my  son,  my  son  !  it  is  thy  step 

at  last ! 

"  Father  !  a  solemn  eve  hath  fallen — a  mighty  deed 

is  done — 
Pledged  to  his  country  and  his  God — receive  and 

bless  thy  son  ! 
And  pray,  my  father — ceaseless  pray — that  I  may 

never  shame, 
The  oath  of  God,  to  which  this  day,  I  have  affixed 

my  name ! 

— "  We  met  within  the  ancient  walls,  where  once 
the  Greyfriars  ruled, 

A  concourse  vast  of  earnest  men,  in  common  dan- 
ger schooled  ; 


78  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Earth's  titled  ones — God's  ministers — -poor— -rich — 

together  driven — 
Christ's    flock,   awaiting,  'neath    the    storm,  their 

Shepherd's  sign  from  heaven  ! 

"  And  solemnly,  oh  solemnly  !  went  up  the  breath 
of  prayer, 

The  silence,  as  a  shadow,  brooding  o'er  the  thou- 
sands there — • 

Only  the  pulse  of  each  strong  heart  amid  the  still- 
ness heard, 

Through  which  the  voice  of  Henderson  a  nation's 
suit  preferred ! 

"  Ay,  father  !  there  was  One,  amid  our  convocation 

then, 
Whose  eyes  are  as  a  flame  of  fire,  to  search  the 

souls  of  men  ; 


THE    SIGNING   OF   THE    COVENANT.  79 

Whose  Spirit,  moving  wondrously,  from  heart  to 

heart,  can  bring — 
A  willing   people  to  the  feet  of   their  Almighty 

King  ! 

"  And  when  the  noble  Loudon1  spake  of  Scotland's 

gospel  prime, 
Her  Covenants  of  other  days — her  glad  espousal 

fcime — 
How  fearless,  through  the  wilderness,  her  God  she 

followed  still, 
And  found  a  very  present  help  in  every  time  of 

ill— 

"  Till  one  by  one,  her  mighty  men  were  gathered 

to  their  graves, 
And  sons,  degenerate  from  their  sires,  made  Christ's 

own  freemen  slaves— 


80  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Discrowning  His  anointed  head  to  gem  an  earthly 

brow — 
Making  our   Father's  holy  house  the  ruin  it   is 

now ! — 

"  Oh !  then  there  was  such  weeping,  through  that 

bowed  and  silent  throng, 
Such  self-accusing  bitterness  for  guilt  contracted 

long, 
Such  binding  of  the  broken  vows  upon  the  soul 

once  more — 
That  very  moment  made  us  free — as  we  were  free 

of  yore  ! 

"  And  now,  with  tone  distinct  and  clear,  as  one 

whose  word  is  power, 
Johnston  of  Warriston*  stood  forth,  (God's  gift  in 

danger's  hour,) 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  81 

A  mighty  parchment  in  his  hand,  from  which  he 

read — the  while 
A  sudden  sunburst  filled  the  place  with  heaven's 

approving  smile  ! 

"  He  ended — and  there  was  a  pause — a  pause  of 
holy  fear — 

Who,  to  attest  the  oath  of  G-od,  shall  first  adven- 
ture near — 

It  was  not  doubt,  but  solemn  awe,  and  self-distrust- 
ing shame, 

And  that  each  deemed  his  brother  bore  a  less 
unworthy  name ! 

"  Till  the  good  Earl  of  Sutherland — the  brave  old 

Earl  and  true, 
One  moment  bowed  his  reverent  head,  then  toward 

the  table  drew ; 


82  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

*  So   deal  my  Grod  with  me,  and  mine,  till  latest 

ages  be, 
As  we  prove  steadfast  in  this  bond,  I  bind  on  them 

and  me !' 

"  Then  followed  Rothes  quickly  on — Cassilis,  and 

Hay,  and  Home  ; 
Montrose,3  as  if  almost  he  grudged  to  lose  the 

foremost  room — 
Loudon,  his  country's  beacon-light  amid  her  mirki- 

est  hour, 
With  many  a  noble  name  beside — a  kingdom's  hope 

and  flower  ! 

"Now  Henderson,  the  called  of  God4 — Dickson, 

the  owned  of  heaven,5 
(Surely  a  blessing  waits  the   land  to  which  such 

guides  are  given !) 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  83 

Gruthrie1' — as  though  upon   the  cast   his  life    he 

longed  to  stake, 
And  Rutherford,7   with  look    inspired — as  if  his 

Master  spake ! 

"  Bless  God,  my  father,  who  hath  lent  the  land  we 

love  so  well, 
Sons  valiant  for  the  truth  on  earth,  more  than  my 

tongue  can  tell — 
To  name  but  those   already  proved  by  many  a 

searching  test, 
Would  wile  us  from  the  hour  of  prayer,  and  steal 

thy  midnight  rest ! 

u  Yet  must  thou  hear — when  all  had  signed  within 

the  house  of  G-od, 
How  still  a  multitude  without,  each  on  the  other 

trod — 


84      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Pressing  with  fervent  footsteps  on,  and  many  an 

earnest  prayer, 
That  they  in  Scotland's  Covenant  might  register 

their  share  ! 

"  Oh  !  Arthur's  Seat  gave  back  the  shout  of  that 

assembled  crowd, 
As  one  bare  forth  the  mighty  bond — and  many 

wept  aloud — 
They  spread  it  on  a  tombstone  head — (a  martyr 

slept  beneath) — 
And  some  subscribed  it  with  their  blood,  and  added 

<  Until  death !' 

"  Ay  !  young  and  old  were  moved  alike — with  pray- 
ers, and  groans,  and  tears, 

Surely  the  fruit  of  such  a  day  is  yet  for  many 
years  ! 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  85 

And,  owned  in  heaven,  the  strong  appeal  of  each 

uplifted  hand, 
As  evening's  sun  went  down  upon  the  covenanted 

land !" 

— That  old  man  rose  up  in  his  place — he  bared  his 

locks  of  gray ;  . 
"  Lord,  let  thy  servant  now  depart,  for  I  have  seen 

this  day— 
Upon  my  head  in  early  youth,  John  Knox's  hand 

hath  lain,8 
And  I  have  seen  his  buried  work  unsepulchred 

again  ! 

"  Speed  on  thou  covenanted  cause  !  God's  blessing 

upon'thee ! 
Baptized  in  Scotland's  dearest  blood — albeit  thou 

needs  must  be— 


86  LAYS    OF    THE    KIH.K    AND    COVENANT. 

Christ  came  not  to  send  peace  on  earth — only  may 

that  red  rain, 
Still  fructify  thy  living  seed  till  He  return  again  ! 

"  My  country !   oh  my  country  !  yea  for  thee  the 

light  is  sown,* 
Only  be  steadfast  in  thy  trust — let  no  man  take 

thy  crown ! 
Thine  be  the  standard-bearer's  place !  the  post  of 

suffering  high — 
God's  blessing  on  the  Covenant — I'll  sign  it  ere  I 

die !" 
1847. 

*  Ps.  xcvii.  11. 


to  %  iignittg  nf  tjn  tenant. 

NOTE   1. 


And  when  the  noble  Loudon  spake  of  Scotland's 
gospel  prime. 

John  Campbell,  Earl  of  Loudoun,  was  a  nobleman  whose 
patriotism,  prudence,  eloquence,  and  fortitude,  justly  entitle 
him  to  be  regarded  as  the  chief  assertor  both  of  the  civil 
and  religious  rights  of  his  country.  From  his  youth  he 
attached  himself  to  the  Presbyterian  interest,  which  he 
saw  was  identified  with  the  cause  of  civil  liberty.  On  the 
commencement  of  the  contentions  in  1638,  he  took  an  ac- 
tive share  in  opposing  the  despotic  measures  of  the  court  ; 
and  on  one  occasion  roundly  told  the  king's  commissioner, 
in  language  which  was  soon  re-echoed  in  tones  of  thunder 
from  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  "  That  they  knew  no  oth- 
er bands  between  a  king  and  his  subjects,  but  those  of  re- 


88      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


ligion  and  the  laws.  If  these  are  broken,"  he  said,  "  men's 
lives  are  not  dear  to  them  :  boasted  (threatened)  we  shall  not 
be;  such  fears  are  past  with  us." — DR.  M'CRIE'S  Sketches  of 
Church  History. 


NOTE  2. 

Johnston  of  Warriston  stood  forth,  (God's  gift  in 
danger's  hour.) 

"  Johnston  then  unrolled  the  vast  sheet  of  parchment, 
and  in  a  clear  and  steady  voice  read  the  Covenant  aloud."— 
HETHERINGTON'S  History. 

Burnet  (who  was  his  relation)  says  of  him  "He  looked 
at  the  Covenant  as  the  setting  Christ  on  his  throne,  and  so 
was  out  of  measure  zealous  in  it."  He  afterwards,  in  old 
age  and  physical  weakness,  sealed  it  with  his  blood ;  his 
last  words  being,  "  The  Lord  has  graciously  comforted  me. 
0  pray,  pray !  praise,  praise  !" 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  89 


NOTE  3. 

Montrose,  as  if  almost  he  grudged  to  lose  the  fore- 
most room. 

It  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  Montrose,  afterwards 
the  great  enemy  of  the  Covenanters,  was  among  the  first 
and  most  eager  to  sign- the  Covenant,  and  one  of  the  very 
few  who  resorted  to  coercive  measures  in  enforcing  it.  The 
Marquis  of  Hamilton  (in  one  of  his  Letters  to  King  Charles 
I.),  says  of  him,  "  There  are  many  others  as  forward  in 
show,  amongst  whom  none  more  vainly  foolish  than  Mon- 
trose."— BURNET. 


NOTE  4. 
Now  Henderson,  the  called  of  God. 

"  In  the  early  part  of  his  life  Mr.  Henderson  had  been,  to 
say  the  least,  neutral  in  the  contest  between  presbytery 
and  episcopacy ;  there  is  even  reason  to  think  he  was  a  de- 


90  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

fender  of  the  corruptions  introduced  by  the  bishops.  As  a 
proof  of  this,  he  accepted  a  presentation  from  Archbishop 
Gladstanes  to  the  parish  of  Leuchars,  and  such  was  the  re- 
pugnance of  the  people  there  to  his  induction,  that  on  the 
day  of  ordination  they  barricaded  the  church  doors,  so  that 
the  ministers,  with  Henderson,  were  obliged  to  effect  their 
entrance  by  the  window.  Some  time  after,  having  heard 
that  Robert  Bruce  was  to  preach  at  a  communion  in  the 
neighborhood,  Henderson,  attracted  by  curiosity,  went  se- 
cretly to  hear  him,  and  placed  himself  in  a  dark  corner  of 
the  church,  where  he  might  remain  most  concealed.  Bruce 
came  into  the  pulpit,  and  after  a  pause,  according  to  his 
usual  manner,  which  fixed  Henderson's  attention,  he  read, 
with  his  wonted  dignity  and  deliberation,  these  words  as 
his  text : — '  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  entereth 
not  by  the  door  into  the  sheepfold,  but  clirnbeth  up  some 
other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber.'  These  words, 
so  literally  applicable  to  the  manner  in  which  he  had  enter- 
ed upon  his  ministry,  went  '  like  drawn  swords'  to  his  in- 
most soul.  He  \vho  wished  to  conceal  himself  from  the 
eyes  of  men,  felt  that  he  was  naked  and  opened  before 
the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  In  short,  the 
discourse  of  this  powerful  preacher  was,  by  the  Divine  bless- 
ing, the  means  of  Henderson's  conversion  ;  and  ever  after 
he  retained  a  great  affection  for  Bruce,  whom  he  called  his 
spiritual  father." — MARIE'S  Sketches  of  Scottish  Churck  His* 
lory. 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  91 

NOTE  5. 
— Dickson,  the  owned  of  heaven. 

David  Dickson,  minister  of  Irvine,  under  whose  preach- 
ing there  was  a  most  remarkable  revival  of  religion,  not 
only  in  that  town,  but  throughout  all  the  surrounding-  coun- 
try. Yet  he  himself  was  so  far  from  being  exalted  in  spirit 
by  the  great  blessing  that  attended  his  ministry,  that  he 
always  modestly  observed,  "That  the  vintage  of  Irvine  was 
not  equal  to  the  gleaning  grapes  of  Ayr  in  John  Welch's 
time."  He  was  the  author  of  that  exquisite  sacred  poem, 
"  0  Mother  dear,  Jerusalem,"  and  other  pieces. 


NOTE  6. 

Gruthrie — as  though  upon  the  cast  his  life  he  long- 
ed to  stake. 

"  When  he  had  reached  the  capital,  and  was  entering  by 
the  Westport,  the  first  person  he  met  was  the  city  execu- 
tioner in  official  costume.  Guthrie  started  at  the  sight  of 
this  grim  functionary,  and,  as  he  mused  upon  the  subject, 


92  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

he  could  not  help  feeling  that  this  encounter  had  a  strange 
connection  with  the  ohject  on  which  he  was  bound.  But 
onward  he  still  fared  to  the  churchyard  of  the  Greyfriars, 
and  in  presence  of  the  assembled  thousands  subscribed  his 
name.  When  he  had  thus  pledged  himself  to  Heaven,  he 
said  to  his  brethren  who  were  standing  around  him,  c  I  know 
that  I  shall  die  for  what  I  have  done  this  day,  but  I  cannot 
die  in  a  better  cause.'  " — Life  of  Gut  fir  ie. 


NOTE  7. 

And   Butherford,  with   look   inspired — as  if  his 
Master  spake. 

"  I  have  known  many  great  and  good  ministers  in  this 
Church,"  said  an  aged  contemporary  pastor  who  survived 
the  Revolution,  "  but  for  such  a  piece  of  clay  as  Mr.  Ruth- 
erford was,  I  never  knew  one  in  Scotland  to  whom  so  many 
great  gifts  were  given ;  for  he  seemed  to  be  altogether  taken 
up  with  every  thing  good,  and  excellent,  and  useful.  He 
seemed  to  be  always  praying,  always  preaching,  always 
visiting  the  sick,  always  catechising,  always  writing  and 
studying.  He  had  two  quick  eyes,  and  when  he  walked  it 


THE    SIGNING    OF    THE    COVENANT.  93 

was  observed  that  he  held  aye  his  face  upward.  He  had  a 
strange  utterance  in  the  pulpit — a  kind  of  skreigh,  that  I 
have  never  heard  the  like.  Many  times  I  thought  he  would 
have  flown  out  of  the  pulpit  when  he  came  to  speak  of 
Jesus  Christ.  He  was  never  in  his  right  element  but  when 
he  was  commending  him.  He  would  have  fallen  asleep  in 
bed  speaking  of  Christ." — MARIE'S  Sketches. 


NOTE  8. 

Upon  my  head  in  early  youth,  John  Knox's  hand 
hath  lain. 

"  The  Reformer  was  accustomed  in  old  age  to  amuse  him- 
self by  walking  in  St.  Leonard's  yard,  and  to  look  with  pe- 
culiar complacency  on  the  students,  whom  he  regarded  as 
the  rising  hope  of  the  Church.  He  would  sometimes  call 
them  to  him,  and  bless  them,  and  exhort  them  to  be  dili- 
gent in  their  studies,  to  attend  to  the  instruction  of  their 
teachers,  and  imitate  the  good  example  which  they  set  be- 
fore them,  to  acquaint  themselves  with  God,  and  with  the 
great  work  which  he  had  lately  performed  in  their  native 
country,  and  to  cleave  to  the  good  cause.  These  familiar 


94  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

advices  from  a  person  so  venerable,  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  the  minds  of  the  young  men." — M'CRIE'S  Life  of 

Knox. 

• 

Knox  died  in  1572.  It  is  therefore  quite  possible  that 
one  of  the  students  so  favored  by  him  might  be  alive,  in  a 
green  old  age,  to  witness  the  signing  of  the  Covenant  in 
1638. 


THE  DEATHBED  OF  RUTHERFORD. 


nf 


*'  I  hear  him  saying  to  me.  Come  up  hither." — RUTHERFORD'S 
Last  Words. 

RUTHERFORD  died  in  1661,  shortly  after  his  book  call- 
ed "  Lex  Rex"  was  burnt  by  the  hangman  at  Edinburgh, 
and  at  the  gates  of  the  New  College  of  St.  Andrews,  where 
he  was  regent  and  professor  of  divinity.  He  departed  just 
in  time  to  avoid  an  ignominious  death ;  for,  though  every 
body  knew  he  was  dying,  the  Council  had,  with  impotent 
malice,  summoned  him  to  appear  before  them  at  Edinburgh 
on  a  charge  of  high  treason.  When  the  summons  came  he 
said,  "  Tell  them  I  have  got  a  summons  already  before  a 
superior  judge  and  judicatory,  and  I  behove  to  answer  .my 
first  summons ;  and,  ere  your  day  arrive,  I  will  be  where 
few  kings  and  great  folks  come."  When  they  returned  and 
told  that  he  was  dying,  the  parliament,  with  a  few  dissent- 
5 


98       LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

ing  voices,  voted  that  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  die  in 
the  college  !  Upon  this  Lord  Burleigh  said,  "  Ye  have  vot- 
ed that  honest  man  out  of  his  college,  but  ye  cannot  vote 
him  out  of  heaven !" 

TREAD  lightly  through  the  darkened  room,  for  a 

sick  man  lieth  there, 
And,  'mid  the  dimness,  only  stirs  the  whispered 

breath  of  prayer  ; 
As  anxious  hearts  take  watch  by  turns  beside  the 

lowly  bed, 
Where  sleep  the  awful  stillness  wears — that  soon 

must  wrap  the  dead  ! 


Hours  hath  he  known  of  fevered  pain — but  now 

his  rest  is  calm, 
As   though  upon  the  spirit  worn   distilled  some 

healing  balm — 


THE  DEATHBED  OF  RUTHERFORD.        99 

It  may  be  that  his  dreaming  ear  wakes  old  accus- 
tomed words, 

Or  drinks  once  more  the  matin  song  of  Anworth's 
"blessed  birds!"* 


O  !  green  and  fresh  upon  his  soul,  those  early  haunts 

arise, 
His  kirk — his  home — his  wild  wood  walk — with  all 

their  memories — 
The  very  rushing  of  the  burn,  by  which  so  oft  he 

trod. 
The  while  on  eagle  wings  of  faith  his  spirit  met  its 

Godi 


*  Onely  I  think  the  sparrows  and  swallows  that  build  their 
nests  in  the  kirk  of  Anworth,  ""blessed  birds." — RUTHERFORD'S 
Letters. 


100     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

A  smile  hath  brightened  on  his  lip — a  light  around 

his  brow — 
Oh !    surely,  "  words  unspeakable,"  that  dreamer 

listeth  now — 
And  glories  of  the  upper  sky,  his  raptured  senses 

steep, 
Blent  with  the  whispers  of  His  love — who  gives 

His  loved  ones  sleep  ! 


But  hark  ! — a  sound  ! — a  tramp  of  horse  ! — a  loud, 
harsh,  wrangling  din ! 

Oh  !  rudely  on  that  dream  of  heaven,  this  world 
hath  broken  in — 

In  vain  affection's  earnest  plea — the  intruders  for- 
ward press — 

And  with  a  struggling  spasm  of  pain,  he  wakes  to 
consciousness  ' 


THE  DEATHBED  OF  RUTHERFORD.       101 

Strange  lights  are  streaming  through  the  room — 

strange  forms  are  round  his  bed — 
Slowly  his  dazzled  sense  takes  in,  each  shape  and 

sound  of  dread — 
"  False  traitor  to  thy  country's  laws — and  to  thy 

sovereign  lord, 
I   summon  thee  to  meet    thy  doom,  thou  felon 

Butherford !" 


Feebly  the  sick  man  raised  his  hand — his  hand  so 

thin  and  pale, 
And  something  in  the  hollow  eye,  made  that  rude 

speaker  quail — 
"  Man  !  thou  hast  .sped  thine  errand  well  J — yet  is 

it  wasted  breath, 
Except  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  can  break  my 

tryst  with  death  ! 


102  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"A  few  brief  days — or  briefer  hours — and  I  am 

going  home. 
Unto  mine  own  prepared  place,  where  but  few  great 

ones  come ! 
And  to  the  judgment  seat  of  Him,  who  sealed  me 

with  His  tiea.i — 
'Gainst  evil  tongues,  and  evil  men,  I  make  my  last 

appeal ! 


"  A  traitor  was  his  name  on  earth  f — a  felon's  doom 

His  fate — 
Thrice  welcome  were  my  Master's  cup — but  it  hath 

come  too  late — 
The  summons  of  that  mightiest  King,  to  whom  all 

kings  must  bow, 
Is  on  me  for  an  earlier  day — -is  on  me  even  now  f 


THE  DEATHBED  OF  RUTHERFORD.       103 

"  I  hear — I  hear — the  chariot  wheels,  that  bring 

my  Saviour  nigh, 

For  me  He  bears  a  golden  crown — a  harp  of  melody — 
For  me  He  opens  wide.  His  arms — He  shows  His 

wounded  side — 
Lord  !    'tis   my   passport    into   life  ! — I   live — for 

Thou  hast  died.!" 


They  give  his  writings  to  the  flames — they  brand 
his  grave  with  shame— 

A  hissing  in  the  mouth  of  fools,  becomes  his  hon- 
ored name— - 

And  darkness  wraps  awhile  the  land,  for  which  he 
prayed  and  strove, 

But  blessed  in  the  Lord  his  death— and  blest  his 

rest  above  ! 
1843. 


THE    MARTYR'S    CHILD. 


"  My  lords,  let  never  this  sentence  affect  you  more  than  it  does 
ine,  and  let  never  my  blood  be  required  of  the  king's  family." — 
Life  of  Guthrie. 

"%The  Covenants  !  the  Covenants !  shall  yet  be  Scotland's  reviv- 
ing !" — GUTHRIE'S  Last  Words. 

11  JAMES  GUTHRIE  had  a  son  named  William,  about  four 
or  five  years  old  ;  so  young,  indeed,  and  therefore  so  igno- 
rant of  the  dismal  tragedy  that  was  approaching,  that 
James  Cowje  (Mr.  Guthrie's  servant,  precentor,  and  aman- 
uensis) could  scarcely  detain  him  from  playing  in  the  streets 
on  the  day  of  his  father's  execution.  Guthrie,  whose  soul 
yearned  over  his  boy,  so  soon  to  become  an  orphan,  took 
him  upon  his  knee  and  gave  him  such  advices  as  were  suit- 


108  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

ed  to  his  capacity.  He  bade  him  to  become  serious — to  be- 
come religious — and  to  be  sure  to  devote  himself  to  that 
honest  and  holy  course  in  which  his  father  had  walked  to 
the  death.  '  Willie,'  he  said,  '  they  will  tell  you,  and  cast 
up  to  you, that  your  father  was  hanged;  but  think  not 
shame  of  it,  for  it  is  upon  a  good  cause.'  After  the  execu- 
tion, the  head  was  set  up  on  the  Nether  Bow  Port  as  a 
spectacle  for  the  finger  of  scorn  to  point  at.  But  among 
those  who  repaired  thither,  and  looked  up  at  the  long  grey 
hairs  rustling  in  the  wind,  and  the  features  embrowning  and 
drying  in  the  sun,  one  little  boy  was  often  seen  gazing  fixed- 
ly upon  that  countenance  with  looks  of  love  and  terror — 
and  still  returning,  day  after  day,  and  hour  after  hour,  as  if 
there  was  for  him  a  language  in  that  silent  head  which  none 
else  could  hear.  And  who  could  that  child  be,  but  Guth- 
rie's  young  son — the  little  '  Willie'  of  the  Martyr's  last  af- 
fectionate counsels  and  cares  ?  His  love  of  playing  in  the 
streets  was  over  now  ;  a  new  occupation  had  absorbed  him  ; 
and  as  he  returned  from  these  pilgrimages,  we  may  con- 
ceive with  what  feelings  his  mother  heard  him  when,  on 
her  anxious  inquiry  as  to  where  he  had  been,  his  usual  re- 
ply was,  '  I  have  been  seeing  my  father's  head !'  The 
dying  admonitions  of  the  departed  parent,  enforced  by  such 
a  solemnizing  spectacle,  seem  to  have  sunk  deep  into 
William's  heart ;  for  it  was  observed  that  after  his  father's 
death,  he  spent  much  time  in  solitude,  and  was  often  em- 
ployed in  prayer.  Resolving  to  walk  in  his  father's  steps, 
he  directed  his  studies  to  the  Church,  and  became  a  scholar 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  109 

of  excellent  promise  ;  but  he  died  in  early  youth,  when  he 
was  entering  upon  trials  to  be  licensed  as  a  preacher." — 
Life  of  James  Guthrie  by  Rev.  THOMAS  THOMSON. 

0,  the  sunrise  !  the  sunrise  !  hath  wondrous  power 

To  gladden  all  living  things  ; 
It  breaks  on  the  chill  night's  mirkiest  hour, 

Like  a  smile  from  the  King  of  kings ! 
'Tis  earliest  June — and  the  earth  hath  thrilled, 

With  the  earnest  of  summer  given  ; 
And  the  very  city's  self  is  filled 

With  the  breath  and  the  beam  of  heaven ! 


A  glory  is  circling  the  stern  dark  brow, 

Of  Dunedin's  fortress  old, 
And  a  gleam  is  waking — more  faintly  now, 

Her  Tolbooth  prison-hold — 

qgiTBi 


110  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Where  one  hath  risen — but  not  from  sleep — 

To  gaze  on  that  dawning  sky — 
"  True  wife  !  what  aileth  thee  now  to  weep. 

Heaven  brightens  ere  I  die !" 

There  are  mustering  groups  in  the  silent  streets, 

That  are  silent  no  longer  now ; 
Though  briefly  each  other  his  fellow  greets, 

As  with  doubting  on  his  brow ! 
It  seemeth  as  if  an  anguish  pressed, 

Alike  on  a  nation's  heart — 
One  mighty  load — upon  every  breast, 

Which  yet  each  must  bear  apart ! 

And  still  in' its  joy — o'er  that  joyless  throng, 
The  brightening  day-dawn  smiled ; 

While  threading  the  crowd's  dense  maze  along, 
Came  an  old  man — and  a  child — 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  Ill 

The  man  was  woe-worn  past  all  relief — 

The  child's  young  brow  was  fair — 
So  sunny,  it  seemed  that  no  frost  of  grief 

Could  linger  a  moment  there  ! 

And  onward  he  tripped  at  the  old  man's  side, 

With  many  a  step  for  one — 
And  smiled  in  the  face  of  his  ancient  guide, 

As  to  bid  his  grief  begone  ! 
And  still  as  the  sunbeam  before  him  danced, 

On  the  shade  of  the  narrow  street ; 
His  little  hands  he  would  clap  entranced, 

And  chase  it  with  eager  feet ! 

"  0  whist  ye,  nay  bairn,"  said  the  old  man  then, 

"  And  is  this  a  time  for  play  ? 
Your  hairs  may  be  white — ere  the  half  ye'll  ken, 

Of  the  loss  ye  shall  thole  this  day  !" 


112  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"  Ye  said  I  should  look  in  my  father's  face, 

And  sit  on  my  father's  knee — 
Long,  long  he  has  lain  in  yon  darksome  place, 

But  I  know  he'll  come  home  with  me  !" 

"  0  whist  ye  my  bairn,"  quoth  the  old  man  still, 

"  For  a  better  home  he's  bound, 
But  first  he  must  suffer  his  Master's  will, 

And  lie  in  the  chill,  damp  ground !" 
The  child  looked  wistfully  up  again  : 

"  His  master  is  Grod  on  high  ; 
He  sends  the  sun — and  He  stays  the  rain — 

He'll  make  it  both  warm  and  dry  !" 

— They  have  entered  in  by  the  dismal  door, 
They  have  mounted  the  weary  stair ; 

And  the  mirth  of  the  young  child's  heart  is  o'er, 
For  no  sunbeam  follows  there  ! 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  113 

With  a  shuddering  dread,  as  the  harsh  key  grates, 

By  the  old  man's  side  he  clings  ; 
But  he  hears  a  voice — and  no  longer  waits — 

To  his  father's  heart  he  springs  ! 


"  My  child  !  my  own  child  !    am  I  clasping  thee 
now, 

My  God,  all  Thy  will  be  done !» 
And  he  whom  no  terror  of  earth  could  bow,* 

Rained  tears  upon  his  son  ! 
"  Now  rest  thee.  my  Willie,  upon  my  knee, 

For  thy  father's  hours  are  brief — 
And  store  up  my  words,  with  thy  love  for  me, 

Engraved  on  thy  heart's  first  grief ! 


*  Characterized  by  Cromwell  as  "  the  short  man  who  would 
not  bow." 


114  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"  They  will  tell  thee,  my  bairn,  that  thy  father  died 

A  death  both  of  sin  and  shame ; 
And  the  finger  of  scorn — and  the  foot  of  pride — 

Will  be  busy  with  my  name — 
But  heed  them  not,  boy !  for  the  cause  of  God 

I  render  this  day  my  breath — 
And  tread  thou  the  path  that  thy  father  trod, 

Though  it  lead  to  thy  father's  death  I" 


"  For  my  Master's  honor — my  Master's  Crown- 

A  martyr  'tis  mine  to  be — 
And  the  orphan's  God  shall  look  kindly  down, 

My  pleasant  child,  on  thee  ! 
I  seal  thee  now  with  my  parting  kiss, 

Till  at  His  right  hand  we  meet — 
Death  !  death  !  thy  bitterest  drop  is  this, 

All  else  in  thy  cup  is  sweet  1" 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  115 

The  child  clings  close  to  his  father's  heart, 

But  they  bear  him  by  force  away — 
A  gentle  force — but  they  needs  must  part — 

And  that  old  man  guides  his  way. 
Once  more  they  are  treading  the  crowded  street — 

But  no  longer  the  sunlight  smiled — 
And  looks  of  pity  from  some  they  meet, 

For  they  know  the  martyr's  child  ! 

"  Yon  darksome  thing  that  shuts  out  the  sky, 

0  tell  me  what  may  it  be  ? 
It  scares  my  heart,  though  I  know  not  why, 

For  it  seems  to  gloom  on  me  !" 
With  a  quivering  lip,  and  a  thrill  of  awe — 

Was  the  old  man's  answer  given — 
"  'Tis  a  ladder,  poor  bairn,  such  as  Jacob  saw, 

By  which  angels  mount  to  heaven  !" 


116  LAYS    OF   THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

— They  have  set  his  head  on  the  Nether  Bow, 

To  scorch  in  the  summer  air ; 
And  months  go  by — and  the  winter's  snow. 

Falls  white  on  its  thin  grey  hair : 
And  still  the  same  look  that  in  death  he  wore, 

Is  sealed  on  the  solemn  brow — 
A  look  as  of  one  who  hath  travailed  sore, 

But  whose  pangs  are  ended  now ! 


Through  years  of  oppression,  and  blood,  and  shame-. 

The  earth  as  a  wine-press  trod — 
That  silent  witness  abides  the  same, 

In  its  mute  appeal  to  God  ! 
And  many  a  saint  hath  waxed  strong  to  bear, 

While  musing  in  that  sad  place — 
And  the  heart  of  the  tyrant  hath  failed  for  fear, 

In  the  awe  of  the  still,  stern  face ! 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  117 

There  were  prophet-words  on  those  lips  in  death, 

That  Scotland  remembers  still — 
And  she  looks  for  her  God's  awakening  breath, 

Through  the  long,  long  night  of  ill ! 

"  They  may  scatter  their  dust  to  the  winds   oi 
heaven — 

To  the  bounds  of  -the  utmost  sea — 
But  her  Covenants — burned,  reviled,  and  riven — 
Shall  yet  her  reviving  be  !" 

— There  sitteth  a  child  by  the  Nether  Bow, 

In  the  light  of  the  summer  sky — • 
And  he  steals  there  yet  in  the  winter's  snow, 

But  he  shuns  the  passers  by ; 
A  fair,  pale  child,  with  a  faded  cheek, 

As  a  lily  in  darkness  reared, 
And  an  eye,  in  its  sad  abstraction  meek, 

As  if  nothing  he  hoped  or  feared  ! 


118  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

In  the  early  dawn — at  the  fall  of  eve — 

But  not  in  the  noon  of  day ; 
And  he  doth  not  weep — and  he  doth  not  grieve, 

But  he  never  was  seen  to  play ! 
A  child  in  whom  childhood's  life  is  dead — 

Its  sweet  light  marred  and  dim — 
And  he  gazes  up  at  that  awful  head, 

As  though  it  held  speech  with  him  ! 


Oh  !  a  strange,  sad  sight,  was  the  converse  mute, 

Of  the  dead  and  the  living  there  ; 
And  thoughts  in  that  young  child's  soul  took  root, 

Which  manhood  might  scarcely  bear  ! 
But  ever  he  meekly  went  his  way, 

As  the  stars  came  o'er  the  place — 
And  his  mother  wept,  as  she  heard  him  say, 

"  I  have  seen  my  father's  face  !" 


THE  MARTYR'S  CHILD.  119 

Years  faded  and  died,  and  the  child  was  gone, 

But  a  pale  youth  came  instead ; 
In  the  solemn  eve,  and  at  early  dawn, 

To  gaze  on  the  awful  head  ! 
And  oft  when  the  moonHght  fell  in  showers, 

He  would  linger  the  night  long  there ; 
And  his  spirit  went  up  through  those  silent  hours, 

To  his  father's  God  in  prayer  ! 


The  shadow  had  passed  from  his  heart  and  brow, 

And  a  deep  calm  filled  his  breast ; 
For  the  peace  of  God  was  his  portion  now, 

And  his  weary  soul  had  rest ! 
The  martyr's  God  had  looked  kindly  down, 

On  the  martyr's  orphan  son  ; 
And  the  Spirit  had  sealed  him  for  His  own, 

And  his  goal  was  almost  won ! 


120     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

There  was  fond  hope  cherished — and  earnest  given, 

Of  a  course  like  his  father's  high ; 
But  the  seed  that  had  ripened  so  soon  for  heaven, 

Grod  gathered  to  the  sky ! 
He  conies  no  more  to  the  'customed  place — 

In  vain  would  affection  save — 
He  hath  looked  his  last  on  his  father's  face, 

And  he  lies  in  his  mother's  grave  I 

1847. 


THE  GRAVE  OF  CAMERON 


nt  tip 


nf 


"  A  dream  of  those  ages  of  darkness  and  blood, 
When  the  minister's  home  was  the  mountain  and  wood — 
When  in  Wellwood's  dark  valley  the  standard  of  Zion, 
All  bloody  and  torn,  'mong  the  heather  was  lying." 

HISLOP. 

THIS  poem  (with  the  three  that  succeed  it)  refers  to  the 
darkest  period  of  Scotland's  dark  history — between  the 
Restoration  and  the  Revolution — a  time,  during  the  whole 
of  which,  her  annals  maybe  said  to  have  been  traced  in 
blood.  From  the  sending  down  of  the  Highland  host,  as  it 
was  called,  in  the  end  of  the  year  1677,  to  waste  and  de- 
populate the  western  counties,  where  the  Presbyterian  in- 
terest was  strongest,  to  the  day  when  indignant  Britain  hurl- 
ed the  tyrant  James  from  his  throne,  the  miserable  pea- 
santry of  Ayrshire  and  Galloway,  more  especially,  enjoyed 


124     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

not  the  breathing  space  of  a  day ;  and  if  the  persecution 
appeared  at  any  season  to  relax,  it  was  simply  because  the 
agents  of  oppression  found  no  more  spoils  to  gather,  and  no 
more  victims  to  destroy. 

On  the  20th  July,  1680,  Richard  Cameron,  with  a  handful 
of  his  followers,  fell,  not  without  a  brave  resistance,  at 
Ayrsmoss.  The  head  and  hands  of  Cameron  were  severed 
from  his  body,  and  with  a  cold-blooded  ferocity,  strongly 
characteristic  of  the  times,  and  of  the  men,  they  were  car- 
ried by  the  dragoons  of  Earlshall  to  Edinburgh,  and  expos- 
ed before  the  eyes  of  his  old  father,  who  had  long  lain  a 
prisoner  there.  With  the  very  wantonness  of  cruelty,  they 
taunted  the  bereaved  parent  by  asking  if  he  knew  the 
ghastly  relics  ?  "I  know,  I  know  them  !"  said  the  poor  old 
man,  "  they  are  my  dear,  dear  son's.  Good  is  the  will  of 
the  Lord  who  cannot  wrong  me  nor  mine,  but  has  made 
goodness  and  mercy  to  follow  us  all  our  days  !"  This  anec- 
dote affords  as  fair  an  illustration  as  can  be  given,  of  the 
spirit  which  animated  the  two  parties.  Cameron's  head- 
less body  was  buried  where  he  fell,  and  to  that  lone  grave 
did  Alexander  Peden,  a  fellow-laborer  in  the  gospel,  repair, 
and,  sitting  down  by  the  spot  where  his  friend  of  many 
years  had  at  last  found  the  rest  they  had  both  so  often 
wearied  for,  he  could  not  repress  the  heart- wrung  ejacula- 
tion, "  0  to  be  wi'  thee,  Ritchie !" 


PEDEN    AT    THE    GRAVE    OF    CAMERON.  125 

A  SOUND  of  conflict  in  the  nioss !   but  that  hath 

passed  away, 
And  through  a  stormy  noon  and  eve  the  dead  un- 

buried  lay ; 
But  when  the  sun  a  second  time  his  fitful  splendors 

gave. 
One  slant  ray  rested,  like  a  hope,  on  Cameron's 

new-made  grave  ! 


There  had  been  watchers  in  the  night !    strange 

watchers  gaunt  and  grim, 
And  wearily — with  faint  lean  hands,  they  toiled  a 

grave  for  him — 
But  ere  they  laid  the  headless  limbs  unto  their 

mangled  rest, 
As  orphaned  children   sat  they  down,  and  wept 

upon  his  breast ! 


126  LAYS    OF   THE    KIRK   AND    COVENANT. 

0  !  dreary,  dreary,  was  the  lot  of  Scotland's  true 

ones  then — • 
A   famine-stricken   remnant,   wearing   scarce   the 

guise  of  men ; 
They  burrowed,  few  and  lonely,  'mid  the  chill,  dank 

mountain  caves, 
For  those  who  once  had  sheltered  them  were  in 

their  martyr  graves ! 


A  sword  had  rested  on  the  land— -it  did  not  pass 

away—- 
Long had   they  watched   and  waited,  but  there 

dawned  no  brighter  day  j 
And  many  had  gone  back  from  them,  who  owned 

the  truth  of  old, 
Because  of  much  iniquity  their  love  was  waxen 

cold! 


PEDEN    AT    THE    GRAVE    OF    CAMERON.  127 

• — There  came  a  worn  and  weary  man  to  Cameron'a 

place  of  rest, 
He  cast  him  down  upon  the  sod — he  smote  upon 

his  breast — 
He  wept  as  only  strong  men  weep,  when  weep  they 

must,  or  die — 
And,  "  Oh  !  to  be  wi'  thee,  Ritchie  !"  was  still  his 

bitter  cry ! 


"  My  brother  !  0  my  brother  !   thou  hast  passed 

before  thy  time. 
And  thy  blood  it  cries  for  vengeance,  from  this 

purple  land  of  crime  ; 
Who  now  shall  break  the  bread  of  life  unto  the 

faithful  band— • 
Who  now  upraise  the  standard  that  is  shattered  in 

thine  hand  ! 


128  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"  Alas  !  alas !  for  Scotland !  the  once  beloved  of 
heaven — 

The  crown  is  fallen  from  her  head — her  holy  gar- 
ment riven — 

The  ashes  of  her  Covenant  are  scattered  far  and 
near, 

And  the  voice  speaks  loud  in  judgment — which  in 
love  she  would  not  hear  ! 


"  Alas  !  alas !  for  Scotland !  for  her  mighty  ones 

are  gone, 
Thou,  brother — thou  art  taken — I  am  left  almost 

alone ; 
And  my  heart  is  faint  within  me,  and  my  strength 

is  dried  and  lost, 
A  feeble  and  an  aged  man — alone  against  a  host ! 


PEDEN    AT    THE    GRAVE    OF    CAMERON.  129 

"  0  pleasant  was  it,  Ritchie,  when  we  two  could 

counsel  take, 
And  strengthen  one  another  to  be  valiant  for  His 

sake — 
Now  seems  it  as  the  sap  were  dried,  from  the  old 

blasted  tree, 
And  the  homeless — and  the  friendless — would  fain 

lie  down  with  thee  !" 


It  was  an  hour  of  weakness — as  the  old  man  bowed 

his  head, 
And  a  bitter  anguish  rent  him,  as  he  communed 

with  the  dead ; 
It  was  an  hour  of  conflict — and  he  groaned  beneath 

the  rod — 
But  the  burthen  rolled  from  off  him  as  he  commun 

ed  with  his  Glod  ! 


130  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"  My  Father  !    0   my  Father !    shall  I  pray  the 

Tishbite's  prayer. 
And  weary  in  the  wilderness,  while  Thou  wouldst 

keep  me  there  ! 
And  shall  I  fear  the  coward  fear,  of  standing  all 

alone, 
To  testify  for  Z  ion's  King,  and  the  glory  of  His 

throne  ! 


"  0  Jesus  !  blessed  Jesus !  I  am  poor,  and  frail, 

and  weak, 
Let  me  not  utter  of  mine  own — for  idle  words  I 

speak — 
But  give  me  grace  to  wrestle  now,  and  prompt  my 

faltering  tongue. 
And  breathe  Thy  name  into  my  soul,  and  so  I  shall 

be  strong ! 


PEDEN    AT    THE    GRAVE    OF    CAMERON.  131 

- — "  I  bless  Thee  for  the  quiet  rest,  thy  servant 
taketh  now — 

I  bless  Thee  for  his  blessedness,  and  for  his  crown- 
ed brow — 

For  every  weary  step  he  trod,  in  faithful  following 
Thee, 

And  for  the  good  fight  foughten  well — and  closed 
right  valiantly ! 

"  I  bless  Thee  for  the  hidden  ones,  who  yet  uphold 

Thy  name, 
Who  yet  for  Zion's  King  and  Crown  shall  dare  the 

death  of  shame — 
I  bless  Thee  for  the  light  that  dawns  even  now 

upon  my  soul, 
And  brightens  all  .the  narrow  way  with  glory  from 

the  goal  !* 

*  Peden  was  by  many  supposed  to  possess  the  spirif  of  prophecy. 


132  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

"  The  hour  and  power  of  darkness — it  is  fleeting 
fast  away — 

Light  shall  arise  on  Scotland — a  glorious  gospel 
day — 

Wo !  wo  !  to  the  opposers,  they  shall  shrivel  in 
His  hand — 

Thy  King  shall  yet  appear  for  thee,  thou  covenant- 
ed land ! 


"  I  see  a  time  of  respite — but  the  people  will  not 

bow — 
I  see  a  time  of  judgment — even  a  darker  time 

than  now — 
Then  Lord  uphold  Thy  faithful  ones — as  now  Thou 

dost  uphold — 
And  feed  them,  as  Thou  still  hast  fed,  Thy  chosen 

flock  of  old  ! 


PEDEN   AT    THE    GRAVE    OF    CAMERON.  133 

"  The  glory  !  0  the  glory ;  it  is  bursting  on  my 
sight, 

Lord  !  thy  poor  vessel  is  too  frail  for  all  this  blind- 
ing light ! 

Now  let  Thy  good  word  be  fulfilled,  and  let  Thy 
kingdom  come, 

And,  Lord,  even  in  Thine  own  best  time,  take  Thy 
poor  servant  home !" 

Upon  the  wild  and  lone  Airsmoss,  down  sank  the 

twilight  grey, 
In  storm  and  cloud  the  evening  closed  upon  that 

cheerless  day  ; 
But  Peden  went  his  way  refreshed,  for  peace  and 

joy  were  given — 
And  Cameron's  grave  had  proved  to  him  the  very 

gate  of  heaven  ! 
1843. 


THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  JOHN  BROWN. 


nf 


There,  worthy  of  his  masters,  came 
The  despots'  champion,  bloody  Graham, 
To  stain  for  aye  a  warrior's  sword, 
And  lead  a  fierce,  though  fawning  horde — 
The  human  blood-hounds  of  the  earth — 
To  hunt  the  peasant  from  his  hearth ! 

Poetic  Mirror. 

IT  is  the  cold  grey  morning, 
Slow  creeping  o'er  the  hill ; 

But  no  wild  bird  giveth  warning — 
All  insect  mirth  is  still  1 


138  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

In  vain  the  sun  would  scatter, 
The  chill  dank  mists  away ; 

And  the  rain's  unceasing  patter, 
"Weeps  in  the  cheerless  day  ! 

Forth  o'er  the  dreary  moorland, 
The  preacher  strains  his  eye;1 

Once  more  the  staff  is  in  his  hand — 
Once  more  he  turns  to  fly. 

As  the  partridge  on  the  mountains, 
His  life  is  hunted  still ; 

And  his  bosom's  troubled  fountains, 
Reflect  the  coming  ill. 

He  turned  him  to  the  mother, 
Low  bending  o'er  her  child — 

A  groan  he  sought  to  smother, 
His  voice  was  hoarse  and  wild. 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  139 

"  Poor  wife  !  poor  wife  !"  he  muttered, 

"  A  weary,  dreary  dawn — • 
Bethink  the  words  I  uttered, 

Upon  thy  marriage  morn. 

"  I  bade  thee  prize  him  highly, 

For  a  man  of  God  was  he — 
Yet  keep  the  garment  nigh  thee, 

His  winding-sheet  to  be  K 

"  Poor  wife  !  poor  wife  !"  he  mutters, 

"  A  dreary,  weary  dawn  !" 
Ere  answering  word  she  utters. 

The  wanderer  is  gone  ! 

And  she  is  left  all  lonely, 

With  the  sickness  afher  heart, 

That  for  him  she  loveth  only, 
Those  boding  words  impart. 


140      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Upon  her  babe  she  gazes, 
But  comfort  is  not  there — 

Her  eyes  to  heaven  she  raises, 
And  meekly  bows  in  prayer. 

And,  as  her  prayer  ascended, 
Her  faded  eye  grew  bright — 

As  though  a  beam  descended, 
And  touched  her  soul  with  light ! 

And  meekly  now  she  goeth, 
About  her  household  care  ; 

Each  homely  task  she  doeth, 
Being  sanctified  by  prayer  ! 

— The  evening  meal  awaits  him, 
The  wife  hath  done  her  part  ; 

What  now — what  now  belates  him — 
Oh  !  the  boding  at  her  heart  I 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  141 

Forth  o'er  the  dreary  moorland, 
She  strains  her  anxious  eye — 

A  tramp  of  horse  ! — a  ruthless  band, 
Athwart  the  mist  draw  nigh  ! 

With  oaths  and  dreadful  laughter, 

* 

Athwart  -the  mist  they  <3ome—»*- 
With  shouts  all  breathing  slaughter, 
They  drag  her  husband  home  ! 

"  Come  forth  !  come  forth  !  and  greet  him, 

Thou  singer  of  sweet  psalms"2 — 
She  goeth  forth  to  meet  Mm, 
Her  infant  in  her  arms  1 

"  Now  get  thee  to  thy  praying," 
(The  bloody  Claver'se  spake  ;)3 

"  My  haste  brooks  no  delaying — 
I've  other  dogs  to  take !" 


142      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Upon  his  native  heather. 

The  martyr  knelt  him  down  ; 
«  'Tis  sudden,  0  my  Father  ! 

But  Thou  wilt  keep  thine  own  !" 

"  And  thou,  my  wife !  my  leal  one  ! 
• 

O  !  grudge  not  o'er  thy  dead — 

I  told  thee  that  this  hour  would  come, 
When  thou  and  I  were  wed  !" 

His  last  farewell  is  spoken, 
He  prays  his  latest  prayer  ; 

In  silence  all  unbroken — 

His  murderers  gird  him  there  ! 

In  silence  all  unbroken — 
Save  by  that  pleading  tone, 

Pleading  for  one  last  token, 
From  the  eternal  Throne  ! 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  143 

Strong  is  the  good  man's  weakness, 
Mighty  the  power  of  prayer — 

Almost  the  victim's  meekness, 
Subdues  the  fierce  ones  there ! 

Awe-struck  and  conscience  haunted, 
Those  rude,  stern  soldiers  stand  j 

A  terror  all  unwonted, 
Palsies  the  ruffian  band  ! 

Visions  of  coming  judgment, 
Flash  on  the  startled  brain — 

A  moment  paused  the  dire  intent, 
A  moment — but  in  vain  ! 

"  What  craven  !  ho  !"  the  demon  shout 

Of  laughter  filled  the  air ; 
And  Claver'se  drew  his  pistol  out— 
And  hushed  the  martyr's  prayer  ! 


144     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

A  flash  f  a  sound  !  a  woman's  scream — 
Earth  !  thou  hast  borne  these  things  ! 

And  still,  as  in  a  maniac's  dream, 
That  demon  laughter  rings  ! 

"  Ho,  ho,  gudewife  !  our  work  speeds  fast, 

What  think'st  thou  of  him  now  ?" 
'Twas  strange — the  sudden  spasm  that  past 
O'er  that  new  widow's  brow  ! 

'Twas  strange — the  white  cheeks  flushing, 

The  kindling  of  the  eye ; 
"  Aye  thought  I  only  gude  of  him, 
Now  muckle  mair  than  aye  !" 

Grim  smiled  the  bloody  Claver'se — 

«  Now  by  my  troth,"  he  cried, 
^  Methinks  the  deed  were  none  the  .worse, 
To  lay  thee  by  his  side !" 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  145 

Stern  in  her  spirit's  sadness, 
She  answered,  "  Even  so — 
"  Even  to  such  height  of  madness, 
Thy  cruel  rage  may  go  ! 

"  Do  with  me  as  ye  will — and  can" — 
(Here  swelled  her  bosom's  flood) — 

"  Yet  must  thou  answer  Grod  and  man, 
For  this  day's  work  of  blood !" 

"  To  man,  my  answer  will  I  bear ! 

For  G-od" — he  glanced  on  high — 
The  very  troopers  shrank  to  hear, 
The  oath  of  blasphemy ! 

Coldly  he  motioned  on  his  train, 

And  turned  his  charger's  head  ; 
A  moment  checked  his  bridle  rein, 

Then  left  her— with  the  dead  ! 

7 


146  LAYS    OF   THE   KIRK   AND    COVENANT. 

Left  her — the  broken-hearted, 
Beside  her  dead  to  die — 

O  surely  life  hath  parted, 
In  that  sore  agony  ! 

No  !  for  her  woman's  spirit, 
Is  strong  to  bow  and  bear — 

No  !  for  she  doth  inherit, 
His  faith  who  sleepeth  there ! 

No  !  for  her  infant's  wailing, 
Forbids  her  to  depart — 

And  God's  own  peace  prevailing, 
Binds  up  the  broken  heart ! 

— "Warned  by  the  tempest  token, 
The  wanderer  seeks  once  more, 

The  shelter — oft  bespoken, 
Of  that  lone  cottage  door. 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  147 

Clouds  o'er  the  wan  moon  fleeting. 

Shadow  the  starless  night ; 
Vainly  he  yearns  for  greeting, 

Of  that  quench'd  ingle-light ! 

All  dark — all  dark  and  lonely — 
His  hurrying  footsteps  found  ; 

And  that  sad  widow  only, 
Low  seated  on  the  ground ! 

Beside  her  dead  she  bideth — 

0  prophet !  sadly  sooth  ! — 
He  knows  the  grey  plaid  hideth, 

The  husband  of  her  youth ! 

"  Poor  wife  !  poor  wife  !  his  crown  is  won, 

But  sore  bereaved  art  thou  ! 
Dear  Saviour !  help  the  helpless  one — 

Thou  art  her  husband  now !" 
1845. 


tn  t{fi  jtottjrimm  nf  Snjjti  'Jkntrni 


NOTE  1. 

Forth  o'er  the  dreary  moorland, 
The  preacher  strains  his  eye  ! 

The  story  of  John  Brown,  the  "  Christian  Carrier"  of 
Priesthill,  is  too  well  known,  and  has  been  too  recently  em- 
balmed in  the  graphic  pages  of  Macauley,  to  need  recapit- 
ulation here.  The  visit  of  Peden  to  the  house  the  night 
before  the  murder,  and  his  haunting  impression  of  impend- 
ing evil,  communicated  to  the  poor  wife  in  his  parting 
words,  are  highly  characteristic  of  that  most  simple-hearted 
and  child-like  minister  of  Christ,  who  was  universally  be- 
lieved, in  his  own  day,  to  possess  some  gift  akin  to  what  is 
called  in  the  Highlands  the  second-sight.  Many  of  the 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OP    JOHN    BROWN.  149 

A 
stories  of  his  prophetic  powers  that  have  come  down  to  us, 

bear  indeed  the  marks  of  a  credulous  age,  and  of  that  ex- 
aggeration with  which  all  tradition  seems,  by  the  operation 
of  some  immutable  law,  to  encrust  itself  in  its  progress 
down  the  stream  of  time,  a»d  the  book  entitled  "Peden's 
Prophecies,"  has  been  fully  proved  not  to  be  genuine. 
Still,  enough  remains,  after  careful  sifting,  to  remind  us, 
that  He  who  provided  meat  for  Elijah,  weary  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  the  strength  of.  which  he  went  forty  days,  yet  lives, 
to  supply  the  need  of  His  people  according  to  their  peculiar 
circumstances ;  and  who  shall  say  what  cordials  He  pre- 
pares for  fainting  seasons — what  glimpses  of  futurity  and 
of  glory  He  lets  in  upon  the  soul  of  those,  who,  standing  in 
jeopardy  of  their  lives  every  hour,  for  the  name  of  Jesus, 
look  up,  like  Stephen,  "  steadfastly  into  heaven!" 


NOTE  2. 

Coine  forth — come  forth  and  greet  him, 
Thou  singer  of  sweet  psalms  ! 

About  the  close  of  the  persecution,  a  small  sect  arose, 
named  the  Sweet  Singers,  or  Gibbites,  from  their  leader, 
John  Gibb,  an  insane  and  fanatic  sailor,  whose  opinions  and 


&j  ~ 


150  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

practices  were  highly  extravagant,  and  even  impious. 
Though  his  followers  never  numbered  above  thirty  persons, 
it  was  a  favorite  device  of  the  ruling  party  to  charge  their 
absurdities  on  the  whole  body  of  the  Presbyterians,  who 
in  fact  repudiated  their  heresies  with  the  utmost  horror. 


NOTE  3. 

Now  get  thee  to  thy  praying. 
(The  bloody  Claver'se  spake.) 

Perhaps  there  never  was  another  traditionary  reputation 
so  black,  so  well  earned,  and  so  thoroughly  authenticated 
in  all  its  leading  features,  as  that  borne  by  John  Gra"hame 
of  Claverhouse — the  "bluidie  Claver'se"  of  our  shuddering 
peasantry— the  "  gallant  Dundee''  of  song,  worthy  of  a  bet- 
ter theme-— and  the  forlorn  hope  for  a  hero,  of  certain  of 
our  modern  Jacobite  romancers  upon  history !  Truly  they 
are  much  to  be  pitied  for  the  materials  they  have  to  work 
upon !  and  we  might  almost  compare  their  self-imposed 
task,  to  that  of  some  poor  artificer  of  images  in  a  heathen 
or  popish  country,  compelled  to  fashion  an  idol  from  a 
stock,  and  perpetually  interrupted  in  his  attempted  sculp- 


THE    MARTYRDOM    OF    JOHN    BROWN.  151 

turing  of  beauty,  by  the  knots  and  distortions  of  an  invete- 
rately  ungracious  crab  !  All  the  waters  of  Helicon  would, 
we  suspect,  be  wasted,  in  the  endeavor  to  wash  the  blood- 
stains from  the  memory  of  Grahame  of  Claverhouse  ! 
The  most  palpable  result  of  the  encomiums  of  his  recent 
admirers  having  been,  to  force  from  the  obscurity  in  which 
they  have  for  some  time  been  suffered  to  remain  the  too 
convincing  proofs  of  his  deficiency,  even  in  those  quali- 
ties for  which  he  had. so  long  usurped  credit — personal 
courage,  and  loyalty  to  his  ill-fated  and  evil- counselled 
king! 

It  is  a  significant  fact,  and  worthy  surely  of  being  seri- 
ously pondered,  that  consequent  on  the  resurrection  of 
what  call  themselves  "  church  principles"  in  our  day,  has 
followed  a  perfect  clamor  of  eulogy  in  favor  of  the  "hu- 
man bloodhounds,"  who,  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  system, 
sustained  it  with  their  swords!  Are  we  to  understand 
from  this,  that  those  who  consider  Sharp  as  the  model  for  a 
prelate,  and  Claverhouse  as  the  glass  by  which  a  Christian 
gentleman  should  fashion  himself,  want  but  the  power  and 
opportunity  to  make  approval  practical,  "  by  doing  like- 
wise!" In  our  favored  generation  of  "words  not  deeds," 
the  question  may  provoke  a  smile ;  and  yet,  perhaps,  too 
few  of  us  realize  as  we  ought  to  do  the  extent  of  our  obli- 
gation, under  God,  to  those  laws  of  our  country,  by  which 
the  panegyrists  of  the  persecutors  have  been  hitherto  re- 
strained within  the  bounds  of  a  barren  admiration.  For  is 
not  the  human  heart  the  same  in  all  ages  7  And  what  is 


LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


lacking  but  the  sunshine  of  favorable  circumstances,  icr 
the  little  seed  of  sympathy  to  spring  forth,  the  f'dl-grown 
Ijpas  of  imitation. 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON 


jtotyrs  nf  ^i 


11  Some  think  if  it  were  Jesus  Christ,  and  if  it  were 
a  fundamental  point  they  were  called  to  confess,  they 
would  stand  for  it  with  life  and  estate  ;  but  it  is  thought 
that  Christians  now  stand  upon  some  things  that  are  but 
fancies  and  nice  scrupulosities,  and  that,  if  there  be  any 
thing  in  them,  it  is  but  a  small  matter;  and  shall  a  man 
venture  his  life  and  all,  upon  a  small  thing  7  Well,  if  they 
be  none  of  Christ's  small  things,  let  them  go :  but  if  they 
be  one  of  his  truths,  will  ye  call  that  a  small  thing  1  His 
small  things  are  very  great  things." — JOHN  LIVINGSTONE. 

AY  !  bonnie  hills  of  Galloway  !  the  clouds  above 

ye  driven, 
Make  pleasant  shadows  in  your  depths,  with  glints 

and  gleams  of  heaven  ; 


156     LAYS  OF  THE  KIHK  AND  COVENANT. 

And  ye  have  fairy,  hidden  lakes,  deep  in  your  se- 
cret breast, 

Which  shine  out  suddenly  like  stars,  as  the  sun- 
beams go  to  rest — 

And  ye  have  dells,  and  greenwood  nooks,  and 
little  valleys  still, 

Where  the  wild  bee  bows  the  harebell  down,  beside 
the  mountain  rill, 

And  over  all,  grey  Cairnsmore  glooms — a  monarch 
stern  and  lone, 

Though  the  heather  climbs  his  barrenness,  and 
purples  half  his  throne ! 


O  bonnie  hills  of  Galloway !  oft  have  I  stood  to 

see, 
At  sunset  hour,  your  shadows  fall,  all  darkening 

on  the  sea  j 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  157 

While  visions  of  the  buried  years,  came  o'er  me  in 
their  might — 

As  phantoms  of  the  sepulchre — instinct  with  in- 
ward light ! 

The  years — the  years — when  Scotland  groaned,  be 
neath  her  tyrant's  hand, 

And  it  was  not  for  the  heather,  she  was  called 
"  the  purple  land," 

And  it  was  not  for  their  loveliness,  her  children 
blessed  their  God, 

For  the  secret  places  of  the  hills — and  the  moun- 
tain heights  untrod. 


Oh  !  as  a,  rock,  those  memories  still  breast  time's 

surging  flood, 
Her  more  than  twice  ten  torture  years,  of  agony 

and  blood  ! — 


158  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

A  lurid  beacon  light  they  gleam,  upon  her  pathway 

now. 
They  sign  her  with  the  Saviour's  seal-^His  cross 

upon  her  brow ! 
And   never  may  the  land  whose  flowers,  spring 

fresh  from  martyr  graves, 
A  moment's  parley  hold  with  Rome — her  mimics — • 

or  her  slaves, 
A  moment  palter  with  the  chains,  whose  scars  are 

on  her  yet, 
Earth  must  give  up  the  dead  again — ere  Scotland 

can  forget ! — 


— A  grave — a  grave  is  by  the  sea — in  a  place  of 

ancient  tombs1 — • 
A  restless  murmuring  of  waves,  for  ever  o'er  it 

comes — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  159 

A  pleasant  sound  in  summer  tide — a  requiem  low 

and  clear, 
But  oh !  when  storms  are  on  the  hill — it  hath  a 

voice  of  fear ! 
So  rank  and  high  the  tomb  weeds  wave,  around 

that  humble  stone, 
Ye  scarce  may  trace  the  legend  rude — with  lichen 

half  o'ergrown — • 
But  ask  the  seven  years'  child  that  sits,  beside  the 

broken  wall, 
He  will  not  need  to  spell  it  o'er — his  heart  hath 

stored  it  all ! 


A  peasant's  tale — a  humble  grave — two  names  on 

earth  unknown, 
But  Jesus  bears  them  on    His  heart,  before  the 

eternal  throne  ! 


IbO  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

And  kings,  and  heroes,  yet  shall   come,  to  wish 

their  lot  were  bound, 
With  those  poor  women  slumbering,  beneath  the 

wave  girt  ground  ! — 
The  earth  keeps  many  a  memory  of  blood  as  water 

poured — 
The  peasant  summoned  at  his  toil,  to  own,  and 

meet  his  Lord — 
The  secret  hungering  in  the  hills — where  none  but 

God  might  see — 
Ay  !  Earth  had  many  martyrs — but  these  two  were 

of  the  sea ! 


"  The  redcoats,  lass!  the  redcoats  !"  cry  the  weans 

from  off  the  street, 
Who  knows  but  Claver'se'  evil  eye,  may  blast  them 

if  they  meet  !2 — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  161 

Nay !  only  Bruce  and  Windram  come  !  but,  oh ! 
wae  worth  the  way — 

They  have  gotten  Gilbert  Wilson's  bairns  in  their 
cruel  hands  to-day  ! — 

See  Annie  !  bonnie  Annie !  oh,  but  she  is  wasted 
sore, 

With  weary  wandering  in  the  hills — this  seven 
month  and  more — 

And  Margaret  with  her  bleeding  feet,  and  weather- 
stained  brow — 

But  surely  One  alone  could  breathe  the  calm  upon 
it  now ! — 


—She  recks  not  of  the  jibing  words,  those  ruthless 

soldiers  speak — - 
She  recks  not  of  her  bleeding  feet — her  frame  so 

wcrn  and  weak — 


162  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

She  sees  not  even  the  pitying  looks  that  follow  as 

she  goes — 
Her  soul  is  filled  so  full  with  prayer — that  God 

alone  she  knows ! 
Long  hath  she  looked  for  such  a  day — with  awe 

and  shuddering  dread, 
Its  terror  in  the  night  hath  fallen — haunting  her 

cavern  bed, 
And  she  hath  prayed  in  agony — that  if  He  might 

not  spare, 
Jesus  would  bear  her  charges  then — and  He  hath 

heard  her  prayer  ! 


They  have  brought  her  to  their  judgment-hall — a 
narrow  prison-room, 

And  once  she  looked  up,  as  they  crossed,  from  sun- 
light into  gloom, 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  163 

And  a  sound  of  bitter  weeping  close  beside  her 

now  she  hears, — 
And  she  wished  her  hands  unshackled,  just  to  dry 

her  mother's  tears  ! 
They  have    questioned  of  her  wanderings — they 

have  mocked  her  with  their  words, 
They  have  asked  her  if  the  Covenant  could  shield 

her  from  their  swords, 
Or  if   she  sought  a  miracle  to  test  her  call  the 

more — 
That  she  ventured  to  her  father's  home — right  past 

the  curate's  door  ! 


They  questioned  her  with  cruel  taunts — and  waited 

for  reply — 
She  met  her  father's   look  of  woe — her  mother's 

streaming  eye — 


164     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

A  moment  quivered  all  her  frame — -strange  gasp- 
ings  choked  her  breath, 

Then  fell  the  words  forth,  one  by  one — as  from  the 
lips  of  death. — 

"  The  blink  of  our  own  ingle — it  came  glancing 
o'er  the  tide. 

And  we  were  wet  and  weary  both — upon  the  moun- 
tain side — 

My  very  heart  grew  sick  within — my  father's  face 
to  see, 

And  Annie  yearned  to  rest  her  head  upon  my 
mother's  knee  ! 


'•l  0  men  !  but  they  are  bitter  tears — ye  cause  the 

houseless  weep, 
"With  haunting  thoughts  of  food  and  fire — that  will 

not  let  them  sleep, — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  165 

And  temptings  of   home  words  and  ways — even 

whispering  as  they  pray. 
Until  Another  takes  the  load — once  tempted  even 

as  they !" 
There  was  a  murmur  through  the  crowd — first  hope, 

and  then  despair, 
For  in  the  scoffing  laugh  of  Bruce — was  that  that 

could  not  spare — 
"  0  lass  !  ye  should  have  ta'en  the  bay — ere  there 

was  light  to  see  !" 
She  answered  to  that  pitying  voice — "  I  dared  na 

for  the  sea  !"  * 


Alas !  it  is  a  little  stroke  draws  from  the  flint  the 
fire- 

And  but  a  little  spark  may  light  the  martyr's  fune- 
ral pyre — 


166  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

And  in  the  hearts  of  evil  men  such  mischiefs 
smouldering  herd, 

That  cruel  thought,  to  cruel  deed,  may  kindle  at  a 
word ! 

"  Ho  !  ho  !  the  sea  !  the  raging  sea  !  and  can  it 
tame  your  pride  1 

My  sooth  !  we'll  frame  a  Covenant  with  the  ad- 
vancing tide — 

To-morrow — when  the  dawn  is  chill — in  Blednoch 
Bay3  we'll  see. 

What  mild  persuasion  harbors  in  the  cold  kiss  of 
the  sea  !" 


A  man  is  stricken  to  the  earth — by  that  strange 
voice  of  doom, 

The  mother  pleads  not — knows  not — all  is  black- 
ness in  the  room  ; 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  167 

As  if  smit  with  sudden  blindness — she  goes  grop- 
ing from  the  door, 

And  they  hinder  her  to  follow — who  shall  see  her 
face  no  more  ! 

But  the  father  !  0  the  father !  'twas  a  timid  man 
and  weak, 

Complying  still  with  every  time — he  had  his  faith 

• 
to  seek — 

And  now,  within  his  heart  and  "brain,  a  dreadful 

sound  he  hears, 
A  sound  of  rushing  waters — but  they  find  no  vent 

in  tears  ! 


God  help  him  !      He  hath  need  of   prayer — and 

knows  not  how  to  pray, 
He  gasps  out  vain  appeals  to  men — who  scoff,  and 

turn  away ; 


168     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Madly  he  grovels  in  the  dust — in  desperate  anguish 

now — 
Until  he  feels  his   Margaret's  kiss,  like  dew  upon 

his  brow. 
"  God  help  thee,  father !  O  this  sight  is  pitiful  to 

see  ! 
Canst  thou  not  give  thy  child  for  Him,  who  gave 

His  son  for  thee? 
Trust  me,  dear  father,  He  is  near,  His  promise  to 

fulfil, 
In  passing  through  the  waters — He  will  be  beside 

us  still !" 


— It  is  the  solemn  evening  hour — the  seal  of  that 

sad  day, 
And  the  rich  purple  of  the  hills,  is  blending  all  to 

grey; 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON  169 

And  from  the  cloud  thrones  of  the  west,  the  last 

bright  gleam  hath  fled. 
And  the  moon  riseth  white  and  wan — as  a  watcher 

o'er  the  dead  ! 
— Sits  Gilbert  Wilson  by  his  hearth — one  child 

beside  his  knee, 
0  cheaply  ransomed  with  his  all  ! — a  ruined  man 

is  he — 
For  his  poor  life — and   those   poor   hoards — the 

Cross  he  dared  to  shun. 
All  proffered  now  for  his  two  bairns— ^and  they  have 

bought  him  one  ! 


He  sits  beside  his  blackened  hearth- — unconscious 

of  its  gloom — 
A  chill  hath  gathered  at  his  heart — that  mocks  at 

that  cold  room — 

8 


170      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

There  is  no  food  upon  the  board — no  kindled  rush 

to  guide. 
The  gudewife  at  her  nightly  task — of  spinning  by 

his  side ; 
And  saving,  that  at  times  his  hand — as  if  to  prove 

her  there. 
Strays   in   the    darkness   tremblingly,   amid    his 

Annie's  hair — 
And  saving  that  the  mother's  moan,  at  times  will 

make  him  start, 
Ye  might   have   deemed,  the  mighty  grief — had 

burst  the  feeble  heart ! 


O  !  prison  bars  are  stark  and  strong — to  shut  oat 

light  and  air, 
And   yet  the   moonlight's   sympathy — it  stealeth 

oven  there, 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  171 

A  glory  on  the  dungeon  floor — as  on  the  free  green 
sod, 

A  voiceless  messenger  of  peace — to  souls  at  peace 
with  God ! 

And  Margaret  sitteth  in  its  beam — its  radiance 
on  her  brow, 

As  though  the  crown  she  soon  shall  wear — were 
brightening  o'er  her  now, 

With  folded  hands  upon  her  knee — and  half  sus- 
pended breath. 

Listing  to  one  who  shares  her  cell — and  soon  must 
share  her  death  ! 


A  solemn  place — a  solemn  time — for  parted  friends 

to  meet, — 
Yet  in  their  same  extremity — their  communing  is 

sweet ; 


172     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

And  while  in  prayer  and  praise  fleet  by  the  watches 

of  the  night. 
Faith,  like  the  moonbeam,  enters  in — and  floods 

the  grave  with  light ! 
Oh !   youth  and  age  contrasted  well — in  mutual 

help  ye  blend, 

This  tells  of   the   unchanging  God — that  of   the 

Saviour  friend, 
One  tramples  life's  new  springing  flowers — for  her 

Redeemer's  sake. 
The  other  stays  her  age  on  Him — who  never  can 

forsake  ! 


Long  had  they  loved — as  Christians  love — those 

two — so  soon  to  die, 
And  each  the  other  greeted  first — with  weeping — • 

silently, 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  173 

The  matron  wept — that  that  young  life,  so  time- 

lessly  must  cease  ; 
The  maiden — that  that  honored  head,  must  not  go 

down  in  peace — 
But  soon — oh,  soon — it  passed  away — the  coward 

thought  and  base, 
And   each   looked  humbly — thankfully — into  the 

other's  face, 
"  Mother  !    He  rules  the  awful  sea — with  all  its 

waters  wild" — 
"  The  many  *waters  are  His  voice — of  love  to  thee, 

my  child !" 


*         *         *         * 


— The  guards  are   met — the  stakes  are  set — deep, 

deep  within  the  sand, 
One  far  toward  the  advancing  tide — one  nearer  to 

the  land ; 


174  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

And  all  along  the  narrow  shore,  that  girdles  in  the 
bay, 

Small  groups  of  anxious  watchers  come — as  wane 
the  stars  away  ! 

Low  lie  the  fog  clouds  on  the  hills — blank  in  their 
curtained  screen, 

Each  crest  of  beauty  veils  its  brow,  from  that  ab- 
horred scene ; 

While  eastward  far,  the  straining  eye,  through  mist 
and  gloom  may  see, 

Large  raindrops  plashing  heavily— into  a  dull — 
sad  sea ! 


— They  come— they  come— a   distant   sound  ! — -a 

measured  marching,  soon 
On  mail-clad  men,  the  dew-drops   rain— from  off 

thy  woods  Baldoon  !4 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  175 

The  trodden   grass — the  trampled  flowers — alas  1 

poor  emblems  they, 
Of  all  a  despot's  iron  heel,  was  crushing  down  that 

day — 
They  shall  revive  !  the  harebell,  see — ttprears  its 

crest  again, 
The  falling  dew  hath  cleansed  anew,  its  purity  from 

stain, 
And  thus,  beneath  the  oppressor's  tread,  and  hell's 

opposing  powers, 
God's  truth  throughout  the  land  shall  spring — a 

sudden  growth  of  flowers ! 


Ah  !  little  Margaret's  playmates  deemed — in  child- 
hood's frolic  glee—- 
What shadow  of  a  coming  hour— still  scared  her 
at  the  sea-— 


176  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

What  secret  shiver  of  the  soul,  passed  to  her  from 
the  bay — 

And  made  her  cast  with  impulse  strong,  the  sea- 
weed crown  away ! 

Oft  would  they  seek,  with  mirthful  wile,  to  lure  her 
to  the  strand, 

Or  hide  the  sea-shell  'raid  the  flowers,  she  grasped 
with  eager  hand, 

But  in  it  still  a  whisper  stirred,  that  shook  her 
soul  with  fears, 

And  much  they  mocked  her  weakness  then — re- 
membered now  with  tears  ! 


Sad  silence  deepened  on  the  throng,  as  near  and 
nearer  came, 

The  victims  to  their  place  of  doom — the  murder- 
ers to  their  shame — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  177 

And  there  were  blank  and  hopeless  looks — white 
lips  dry  parched  with  fear, 

Low  murmurs — suddenly  suppressed — lest  they 
who  rule  should  hear — 

And  men,  bowed  down  with  women's  tears — until 
the  sod  was  wet — 

But  Bothwell  Brig5  unnerved  their  arm,  and 
crushed  their  manhood  yet ! 

Wo  for  the  land  !  the  despot's  rule  hath  lined  its 
soil  with  graves — 

And  left  beneath  the  frown  of  God — but  taskmas- 
ters and  slaves ! 


Wo  for  the  land !    Aye,  gaze  ye  here !    ye,  who 

would  school  the  soul, 
From  its  high  conscience-post  of  trust — to  bow  too 

your  control — 


178  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 


The  work  is  done  !  the  strife  is  won  !  the  conflict 

passed  away  — 
Rule  o'er  these  wrecks  of  human  kind  !  —  and  tri- 

umph if  ye  may  ! 
High  hearts  once  beat  beneath  the  vest  a  Scottish 

peasant  wears  — 
Go  !  seek  them  in  their  martyr  graves  !  for  these 

are  not  their  heirs  ! 
Only  a  seed  the  mountains  keep,  till  God's  good 

time  shall  come  — 
And   the   harvest,  sown    in   blood  and  tears  —  be 

brought  with  shoutings  home  ! 


A  sound  —  it  cometh  from  the  sea  !    and  many  a 

cheek  is  pale  — 
A  freshening  wind  —  and  fast  behind  —  that  hurry- 

ing voice  of  wail  — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  179 

"  Beshrew    my  heart !" — cries    Windram    now — 

"  haste,  comrades,  while  ye  may  ! 
With    Solway   speed — I   red   ye   heed — the   tide 

comes  in  to-day ! 
Now,  mother,  to  the  stake  amain  ! — your  praying 

time  is  past 

Or  pray  the  breakers,  if  ye  will — they  race  not  in 

so  fast  !»— 
Her  grey  hairs  streaming  on  the  wind — they  bear 

her  to  the  bay, 
While  nearer  roars  the  hungry  sea,  that  ravens  for 

its  prey  ! 


And  Margaret  stands — with  cold  clasped  hands — 

that  bitter  sight  to  see, 
And  now  toward  her  own  death-place  they  guide 

her  silently; 


180  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

A  sudden    impulse  swayed   the  crowd — as   those 

young  limbs  were  bound — 
A  moment's  movement — stilled  as  soon — a  shiver 

through  a  wound ! 
And  they  have  left  her  all  alone — with  that  strong 

sea  before — 
A  prayer  of  faith's  extremity  faint  mingling  with 

its  roar — 
And   on  the  eyes  that   cannot  close — those  grey 

hairs  streaming  still. 
While  round  about,  with  hideous  rout — the  wild 

waves  work  their  will ! 


"  Ho  !  maiden !  ho  !  what  see'st  thou  there !"  'tis 
"Windram's  brutal  voice, 

"  Methinks  an  earthly  portion  now  were  scarce  be- 
neath thy  choice  ! 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  181 

Yon  sea-birds,  screaming  in  their  glee,  how  low 

they  swoop  to-day — 
Now  tell  us,  lass  !  what  dainty  cheer  allures  them 

in  the  bay  ?" 
A   change   hath  passed   on   that  young  brow — a 

glow — a  light  from  heaven, 
Above  the  sea — the  lowering  sky — to  her  seems 

glory  riven — 
"  It  is  my  Saviour  wrestling  there — in  those  poor 

limbs  I  see — 
He  who  is  strength  in  death  to  her — ha^Ji  strength 

in  death  for  me  !" 


And  sudden  from  those  parted  lips,  rich  tones  of 

triumph  come6 — 
Her  fear  is  past — she  stands  at  last,  superior  to 

her  doom  ! 


182     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

And  strains,  in  midnight  watchings  learned,  on 

many  a  blasted  heath, 
Swell  slowly — solemnly,  to  heaven — the  anthem  of 

her  death ! 
Strange  sweetness  vibrates  on  the  gale — it  rises 

o'er  the  sea — 

• 

As  though  an  angel  choir  prolonged  that  thrilling 
harmony, 

And  still  the  song  of  faith  and  praise,  swells  loud- 
er, clearer  yet, 

While  to  l*er  feet  the  foam  wreathes  curl — and  the 
dry  sand  grows  wet ! 


— A  yell !  it  echoes  from  the  hills !  it  pealeth  to 

the  sky ! 
Startling  wild  creatures  of  the  woods  with  its  wild 

agony— 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  183 

And  bounding  on  from  rock  to  rock — with  gaunt 
arms  tossed  to  heaven, 

And  maniac  gestures — scaring  still — the  crowd 
before  him  driven — 

A  haggard  man  hath  gained  the  bay — with  blood- 
shot eyes  and  wild, 

Ajnd  cast  him  down  at  Windram's  feet — and  shriek- 
ed, «  My  child  !  My  child  !» 

Poor  Margaret  heard — as  died  her  song — in  one 
convulsive  gasp — 

And  the  rushing  waters  bound  her  in  the  terror  of 
their  clasp  ! 


"  My  child  !    my  child  !    she  shall   not   die — I've 

gold,  I've  gold,"  he  cried, 
"  I  found  one  heart  that  pitied  me,  though  all  were 

stone  beside — 


184     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Ye  said  that  for  a  hundred  pounds,  the  oaths  ye'd 

proffer  still — 
Spare  the  young  life !  she'll  take  your  tests ! — I 

know,  I  know  she  will !" 
Dark  Windram  glanced  upon  the  gold — he  glanced 

upon  the  sea — 
"  Laggard,  thou  comest  late,"  he  said,  "  she   might 

have  lived  for  me  !" 
But  two  strong   swimmers   at  the  word — plunge 

headlong  in  the  wave, 
They  reach  the  stake — the  cords  they  break  ! — not, 

not  too  late  to  save ! 


And  women  throng  to  chafe  her  hands,  and  raise 
her  drooping  head, 

Dropping  warm  tears  on  the  cold  brow — so  calm- 
so  like  the  dead — 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  185 

While  that    poor   father,  crouching   near — creeps 

shuddering  to  her  feet, 
And  steals  his  hand  up  to  her  heart — to  count  its 

earliest  beat ! 
Just    then — athwart   two    glooming   clouds — the 

morning  sun  made  way, 
Lighting  a  glory  on  the  wave — a  sunbow  in  the 

spray — 
And  up  the  hills  the  mist  wreaths  rolled,  revealing 

half  their  frame, 
And  Margaret  in  the  gleam  awoke — and  breathed 

her  Saviour's  name  ! 


Dark  Windram  turned  him  on  his  heel — he  paced 

apart  awhile — 
"  Oh  for  the   heart  of  Claver'se  now — to  do  this 

work  and  smile  I 


186      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Come,  girl,  be  ruled !  thou'st  proved  enough,  me- 

•       thinks,  yon  bitter  brine, 

We'll  find  the  partans*  fitter  food,  than  these  young 

limbs  of  thine ! 
Hold  off,   and  let  me  near  to  her  !  beshrew  this 

snivelling  ring — 
Ho,  lass  !  stand  up  upon  thy  feet,  and  pray, '  God 

save  the  king  !'  " 
"  To  die  unsaved  were  horrible,"  she  said,  with  low 

sad  voice, 
"  Oh  yes  !  God  save  him  if  He  will !  the  angels 

would  rejoice  !" 

Then   up   he   sprang — that   trembling   man — low 

cowering  at  her  feet, 
"  'Tis  said — 'tis  said — my  blessed   bairn  ! — those 

words  of  life  repeat  1" 

*  Crabs. 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  187 

And  Windram  signalled  with  his  hand — and  rose 
a  shout  on  high, 

Strange  blessing  on  the  tyrant's  head  ! — but  ere  it 
reached  the  sky, 

A  miscreant  foul  hath  stopped  its  course — and 
baulked  the  echoes  near — 

They  could  not  catch  a  sound  that  died — like 
curses  on  the  ear  ! 

A  spare,  mean  man,  with  shuffling  gait,  hath  press- 
ed before  the  rest, 

"  'Tis  ^11  to  pray — God  save  the  king — but  will 
she  take  the  Test?" 


And  "Windram  looked  into  hj|  face — 'and  cursed 

his  civil  sneer — 
He  knew  him  for  the  tool  of  Grahame — his  spy, 

and  creature  there— 


188  LAYS   OF   THE   KIHK   AND    COVENANT. 

A   curate's   brother7 — creeping   up — in  those    ill 

times  to  place. 
Trained  in  apostasy  from  G-od — to  all  things  vile 

and  base ! 
"  Well !  well !  Sir  Provost,  work  your  will,  this  gear 

is  to  your  mind, 
For  me,  I'd  rather  fight  with  men,  than  choke  this 

woman  kind ; 
Bid  her  abjure  the  Covenant — none  better  knows 

the  how  ! — 
There's  scarce  an  oath  on  either  side,  but  you  have 

gulped  ere  now  1" 


Smooth,  smiling  stood  the  provost  forth — no  chaf- 
ing stirred  his  blood. 

Something  he  muttered  of  "  King  James" — "  the 
law"— and  "  public  good," 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  189 

And  then,  as  angry  brows  grew  dark,  and  women 
muttered  loud, 

He  shrank  towards  the  soldiery,  as  though  he  fear- 
ed the  crowd  ! 

"  Dear  Margaret,  baulk  this  bloodhound  yet  ! — Oh 
spare  thy  father's  wo  !" 

She  started  from  their  clasping  arms — "  I  may 
not ! — let  me  go  ! 

I  am  the  child  of  Christ,"  she  said,  "  Lord  !  break 
this  snare  for  me  !" — 

And  Windram  turned  his  face  aside,  and  pointed 
to  the  sea  ! — 

******** 

— They  will  not  cease — they  will  not  sleep — those 

voices  of  the  wave, 
For   ever — ever   whispering,  above   the    martyr's 

grave ; 


190      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

'Tis  heard  at  night — 'tis  heard  at  noon — the  same 

low  wailing  song, 
In  murmur  loud — in  cadence  low — "How  long,  0 

Lord — how  long  !" 
A  cry  against  thee  from  the  tide  !  O  tyrant,  banned 

of  Heaven ! 
It  meets  the  blood-voice  of  the  earth — and  answer 

shall  be  given ! 
A  little  while — the  cup  fills  fast — it  overflows  for 

thee — 
And  thine  extremity  shall  prove  the  vengeance  of 

the  sea ! 


Ay !  gnash  thy  teeth  in  impotence  !  the  fated  hour 

is  come8 — 
And  ocean — with  her  strength  of  waves — bears  the 

avenger  home ; 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON,  191 

See  !  eager  thousands  throng  the  shore,  to  hail  the 
advancing  fleet, 

While  baffled  Dartmouth  vainly  strives — that 
heaven-sent  foe  to  meet — 

And  post,  on  hurrying  post  crowds  fast,  with  tid- 
ings of  dismay, 

How  the  glassed  waters  lull,  to  aid  the  landing  of 
Torbay — 

Away !  prepare  thy  coward  flight — thy  sceptre 
scourge  cast  down — 

The  sea  pursues  thee  with  its  curse — thou  king 
without  a  crown  I 


to  tin  3finttijni  nf  fBtgfaii. 


NOTE  1. 

A  grave  !  a  grave  is  by  the  sea — in  a  place  of  an- 
cient tombs — 

A  restless  murmuring  of  waves,  for  ever  o'er  it 
comes. 

The  small  grave-yard  that  surrounds  the  old  church  of 
Wigton,  is  a  spot  as  attractive  in  its  situation,  as  interesting 
from  the  associations  with  which  several  of  its  time-worn 
tombstones  are  connected.  So  close  to  the  shore,  that  the 
sparkling  wavelets  on  a  summer's  day  seem,  from  a  little 
distance,  to  kiss  the  monuments — there  is  an  incessant  and 
inextricable  mingling  of  wind- voices,  and  wave- voices  with- 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  193 

in  it,  suggestive  of  a  thousand  dreamy  imaginations — a 
whispering  of  leaves  and  blossoms  to  the  waters,  and  an 
answering  again  of  waters  to  the  leaves  and  blossoms,  as 
though  youth  and  life  were  breathing  out  their  secrets,  and 
receiving  in  return,  the  solemn  confidence  of  death  ! 

It  was  a  lovely  day  in  autumn,  if  our  recollection  serves 
us,  when  we  last  stood  within  the  precincts  of  that  quiet 
churchyard.  Our  quest  was  for  the  graves  of  the  martyrs, 
Margaret  Wilson,  whose  eighteen  summers  had  sufficed  for 
acquiring  that  best  of  all  wisdom — "  the  wisdom  that  com- 
eth  from  above," — and  her  aged  companion  in  the  faith  and 
patience  of  the  gospel,  Margaret  Maclachlan,  of  whom  it 
is  affecting]}"  recorded,  "  That  she  was  taken  off  her  knees 
in  prayer,  and  in  her  own  house,"  to  be  carried  to  prison 
and  to  death ;  and  for  some  time  we  feared  our  search  would 
be  in  vain.  Having  scrambled  over  a  small  dyke,  from  which 
the  stones  in  many  places  had  fallen  partially,  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  very  wilderness  of  flowering  weeds,  and  the 
rankest  vegetation,  from  amongst  which  the  rude  grey 
stones  peeped  up  at  intervals — apparently  much  in  need  of 
the  timely  intervention  of  some  "  Old  Mortality"  to  pre- 
serve, not  only  their  inscriptions  in  their  integrity,  but  their 
very  substance  from  decay.  We  groped  about  for  awhile  in 
our  uncertainty,  clearing  the  tall  grasses  first  from  one 
crumbling  monument,  then  from  another,  laboriously  spell- 
ing out  superscriptions,  which  proved  to  be  not  what  we 
quested  for ;  and,  at  length,  had  almost  given  up  the  ven- 
ture in  despair,  when,  having  somehow  guessed  at  our  di- 
9 


194     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


lemma,  a  tiny  sun-burned  urchin  of  a  child  came  suddenly 
to  our  relief.  Diving  through  the  weeds,  which  truly  reach- 
ed above  his  middle,  he  guided  us  with  unerring  certainty 
to  one  of  the  least  apparent  gravestones,  and  bending  down 
over  it,  with  a  child-like  reverence  in  his  features,  as  he 
pointed  to  the  scarcely  legible  inscription,  he  said,  as  far  as 
we  can  remember,  "Look!  she  was  but  a  lassie,  yet  she 
dee'd  for  the  Covenant !" 


NOTE  2. 

Who  knows  but  Claver'se'  evil  eye  may  blast  them 
if  they  meet  1 

Much  has  been  said,  and  something  sung,  concerning  the 
miserable  superstition  of  the  Covenanters,  in  that  they 
avowed  the  belief  of  their  cruel  persecutor,  Claverhouse, 
being  in  actual  collusion  with  the  enemy  of  souls ;  and  so, 
regarding  him,  and  his  black  charger,  as  alike  invulnerable 
to  ordinary  weapons,  were  guilty,  amongst  their  manifold 
other  absurdities,  of  loading  their  muskets  occasionally 
with  a  "  dollar  cut  into  slugs."  This  was,  unquestionably, 
very  foolish,  especially,  considering  how  few  dollars  the 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  195 

system  of  fines  and  exaction  so  long  in  active  operation 
against  them, must  have  left  amongst  the  party;  and  we 
have  no  doubt,  the  many,  who  take  history  for  granted  in 
the  pages  of  a  romance,  have  gone  forth,  under  the  spell 
of  the  "great  wizard,"  or  the  minor  mimicry  of  his  small 
successors,  fully  satisfied  of  the  grossness  of  that  ignorant 
credulity,  which  distinguished  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland 
from  all  the  other  men  of  their  day  !  To  such,  we  would 
simply  recommend  a  course  of  reading,  which  we  will 
warrant  as  amusing  as  any  the  circulating  library  can 
supply.  We  allude  to  the  records  of  "  The  Witch  Trials 
of  Scotland,"  from  the  time  when  bonnie  King  Jamie 
the  Solomon  of  his  age,  himself  delighted  to  occupy  the 
judgment- seat,  and  display  his  superior  skill  in  witch- 
finding;  to  that,  when  a  later  judge  had  to  descend  from 
it,  to  preserve  the  life  of  a  miserable  old  woman,  by  avow- 
ing himself  the  author,  in  a  boyish  frolic,  of  the  memora- 
ble charm,  by  which  she  had  for  years  been  gaining  her 
bread ! 

We  woul  1  refer  also  to  the  fact  quoted  in  the  elder  Dr. 
M'Crie's  unequalled  "Defence  of  the  Covenanters,"  (re- 
cently republished.)  of  the  whole  parliament  of  Scotland, 
sitting  in  grave  attention  to  the  depositions,  concerning  the 
stream  of  blood,  which  "  poppled  up"  from  the  roots  of  the 
tree  on  which  Argyll  hanged  the  caterans.  This  was  in  the 
very  lifetime  of  Claverhouse.  Surely  it  is  an  unworthy  pol- 
icy, and  savors  of  a  cause  too  tender-eyed  to  bear  the  strong 
daylight  of  truth,  thus  to  attempt  to  cast  exclusively  upon 


196     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

one  party  in  the  struggle,  the  reproach  common  alike  to 
both.  It  is  most  certain  that  the  age  of  the  Covenanters 
was  an  age  of  many  superstitions  ;  but  it  is  equally  certain, 
that  the  Covenanters  were  by  no  means  the  most  supersti- 
tious men  of  their  age ;  on  the  contrary,  their  deep  insight 
into  the  oracles  of  God,  their  clear  and  sound  theology, 
delivered  the  more  educated  among  them,  (a  class  which 
included  all  their  ministers,)  from  very  many  of  the  pueril- 
ities by  which  the  minds  of  their  opponents  were  entram- 
melled ;  so  that,  taking  even  an  extreme  case  on  either 
side,  we  would  point  to  Archbishop  Laud,  shaking  at  an 
omen,  and  trembling  over  a  dream,  and  then  to  Alexander 
Peden,  blessing  his  God  from  out  the  sudden  mist  which 
hid  him  from  his  persecutors,  "  That  He  had  let  down  a  lap 
of  His  cloak  to  screen  auld  Sandie;"  and  we  would  say, 
"  If  both  were  superstitious,  which  was  the  healthiest  and 
the  holiest  superstition  1" 


NOTE  3. 

To-morrow — when  the  dawn  is  chill — in  Blednoch 
Bay  we'll  see. 

Mr.  Macaulay  has  fallen  into  a  slight  geographical  error, 
in  supposing  the  exposure  of  the  martyrs  to  have  taken 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  197 

place  in  the  Sol  way.  The  Bay  of  Blednoch,  or  Bladenoch, 
which  was  the  actual  scene  of  their  martyrdom,  is  a  small 
bay  at  the  extremity  of  that  of  Wig-ton,  into  which  the 
little  river  or  "  water"  of  Bleduoch  discharges  itself.  The 
surrounding  scenery  is  very  fine. 


NOTE  4. 

On  mail-clad  men,  the  dewdrops  rain — from  off 
thy  woods  Baldoon. 

The  direct  road  from  Wigton  to  Blednoch,  passes  the  old 
Tower  of  Baldoon — interesting  as  the  scene  of  the  sad  ca- 
tastrophe which  suggested  the  story  of  the  "  Bride  of  Lam- 
mermoor,"  and  beautifully  situated  amidst  fine  old  trees, 
rooted  in  one  of  the  most  fertile  soils,  of  which  Galloway, 
or  even  Scotland  can  boast. 


198     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


NOTE  5. 

But  Both  well  Brig  unnerved  their  arm,  and  crush- 
ed their  manhood  yet  I 

The  disastrous  field  of  Both  well,  in  1679,  extinguished 
the  hopes  of  the  Covenanters ;  and  the  cruelties  that  fol- 
lowed, wellnigh  broke  the  strong  heart  of  Scotland,  from 
that  period  we  may  date  a  gradual  sinking  in  the  spirit  of 
the  population.  A  hopelessness  and  helplessness  seized 
simultaneously  upon  them ;  and  those  who  lacked  the  faith 
and  courage  to  be  martyrs,  resigned  themselves  in  despe- 
rate apathy  to  the  degradation  of  slaves.  The  efforts  of 
the  few  who  yet  at  intervals  resisted,  became  spasmodic, 
and  characterised  by  the  madness  which  oppression  in- 
duces on  the  wise  man ;  and  whilst  the  salt  of  the  earth 
was  to  be  found  only  in  its  dens  and  caverns,  all  the  decom- 
posing influences  of  despotism  took  effect  upon  the  mise- 
rable peasantry  who  yet  clung  to  their  homes.  It  may  be 
questioned,  whether  the  demoralizing  result  of  the  endless 
multiplication  of  oaths,  tests,  and  declarations  (those  cob- 
webs for  consciences)  at  that  sad  time,  has  even  yet  passed 
away  from  the  land ;  and  they  who  have,  for  a  season,  the 
destinies  of  a  kingdom  in  their  grasp,  would  do  well  to 
ponder,  ere  they  break  down,  for  any  earthly  purpose,  those 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    W1GTON.  199 

barriers  of  self-respect  around  the  inner  man,  which,  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generation,  it  may  be  labor  in  vain  to  re- 
erect. 


NOTE  6. 

And  sudden  from  those  parted  lips,  rich  tones  of 
triumph  come. 

"  When  Margaret  Wilson  was  at  the  stake,  she  sang  the 
25th  Psalm  from  verse  7th  downwards  a  good  way,  and 
read  (repeated)  the  8th  chapter  of  the  Romans  with  a  great 
deal  of  cheerfulness ,  and  then  prayed.  While  at  prayer 
the  water  covered  her." — WODROW. 


NOTE  7. 

A    curateTs    brother — creeping    up — in   those  ill 
times  to  place. 

There  is  scarcely  a  word  with  which  the  popular  associa- 
tions are  so  different  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  Tweed, 


200  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

as  with  this  little  word  "  curate."  To  the  English  pronouncer 
it  more  usually  suggests,  (and  well  it  may  !)  a  thousand 
remembrances  of  apostolic,  self-forgetting  men,  patiently 
tracing  the  footsteps  of  their  Divine  Master,  through  evil 
report,  and  good  report,  or  harder  still  to  human  nature, 
no  report  at  all ;  active  in  every  lowly  department  of  parish 
usefulness,  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  visiting  the 
fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  keeping  them- 
selves unspotted,  alike  from  the  world  secular,  and  the 
world  ecclesiastical.  Against  such,  it  would  indeed  be 
most  painful  to  us  to  be  supposed  capable  of  hinting  a 
disparagement.  But  in  connection  with  the  history  of 
Scotland — in  the  reigns  of  the  last  Stuarts — the  word  is 
suggestive  of  far  different  associations;  and  we  may  cite 
Bishop  Burnet  in  the  "  History  of  his  own  Times,"  as  a  cer- 
tainly not  too  willing  witness  against  the  character  of  the 
curates  who  then  swarmed  over  Galloway  and  the  adjoining 
counties,  filling  the  vacant  places  of  those  men  of  God,  who 
had,  in  mockery  of  the  most  solemn  engagements,  been 
violently  thrust  out  of  their  pulpits,  under  the  drunken  ad- 
ministration of  Middleton ;  some  to  seek  shelter  and  hos- 
pitality in  other  countries,  many  to  seal  their  testimony 
with  their  blood  at  home.  Says  the  bishop,  "  There  was  a 
sort  of  an  invitation  sent  over  the  kingdom,  like  a  hue  and 
cry,  to  all  persons  to  accept  of  benefices  in  the  West.  The 
livings  were  generally  well  endowed,  and  the  parsonage 
houses  were  well  built,  and  in  good  repair ;  and  this  drew 
many  very  worthless  persons  thither,  who  had  little  learn- 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  201 

ing,  less  piety,  and  no  sort  of  discretion.  They  came  thither 
with  great  prejudices  against  them,  and  had  many  difficul- 
ties to  wrestle  with."  Then  follows  an  account,  amusing 
from  its  inconsistency,  of  the  "  old  incumbents"  and  their 
teaching,  in  which  ftie  worthy  bishop  makes  ample  display 
of  his  own  prejudices ;  but  from  which,  as  he  observes, 
"  the  judicious  reader  will  make  good  inferences,"  and  find 
no  difficulty  in  extracting  either  the  real  character  of  the 
men,  or  the  secret  of  that  attachment  of  their  flocks,  which 
deepened  into  tenfold  intensity,  the  aversion  and  disgust 
with  which  they  repudiated  the  miserable  hirelings  who 
attempted  to  intrude  themselves  into  their  work.  By  and 
by  our  author  goes  on,  "  What  they  (the  people)  heard  con- 
cerning Sharp's  betraying  those  that  had  employed  him, 
and  the  other  bishops,  who  had  taken  the  Covenant,  and 
had  forced  it  on  others,  and  now  preached  against  it,  open- 
ly owning  that  they  had  in  so  doing  gone  against  the  ex- 
press dictate  of  their  own  conscience,  did  very  much 
heighten  all  their  prejudices,  and  fixed  them  so  in  them, 
that  it  was  scarce  possible  to  conquer  them  afterwards.  All 
this  was  out  of  measure  increased  by  the  new  incumbents, 
who  were  put  in  the  places  of  the  ejected  preachers,  and 
were  generally  very  mean  and  despicable  in  all  respects. 
They  were  the  worst  preachers  I  ever  heard.  They  were 
ignorant  to  a  reproach ;  and  many  of  them  were  openly 
vicious.  They  were  a  disgrace  to  their  orders,  and  the  sa- 
cred functions ;  and  were,  indeed,  the  dreg  and  refuse  of 
the  northern  parts.  Those  of  them  who  rose  above  con- 
9* 


202  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 


tempt  or  scandal,  were  men  of  such  violent  tempers,  that 
they  were  as  much  hated  as  the  others  were  despised. 
This  was  the  fatal  beginning  of  restoring  Episcopacy  in 
Scotland."  Fatal,  indeed !  and  when  we  have  added  to  this 
dark  picture,  the  single  feature  yet  wanting  to  its  hideous- 
ness,  that  these  hireling  curates  set  themselves  forward  with 
busy  eagerness  as  the  spies  of  the  rapacious  soldiery,  seek- 
ing out  for  them  the  hiding  places  of  those  "  who  embraced 
the  rock"  as  a  shelter  from  their  tyranny ;  supplying  them 
with  the  names  of  all  who  refused  to  attend  upon  their 
ministrations,  that  their  persons  might  be  tortured,  and 
their  homes  made  desolate ;  and,  with  all  the  ingenuity  of 
evil,  hounding  on  these  human  wolves  upon  what  in  bitter 
mockery  they  called  their  flocks — can  we  wonder  at  the 
contemptuous  aversion  with  which  their  very  name  was 
regarded,  or  that,  after  the  lapse  of  almost  two  centuries,  it 
remains  in  Scotland  a  hissing  and  a  reproach ! 

The  Grahame  referred  to  at  this  stage  of  the  poem,  is 
not  Claverhouse  himself,  but  his  like-minded  brother, 
Colonel  David  Grahame,  who  acted  as  his  depute  in  the 
sheriffship  of  Wigtonshire,  after  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  of 
Lochnaw  had  been  deprived  of  his  hereditary  jurisdiction 
in  his  favor;  Sir  Andrew  choosing  "rather  to  suffer  afflic- 
tion with  the  people  of  God,"  than  to  hold  office  under  their 
persecutors.  It  was  by  this  Colonel  David  Grahame,  in 
conjunction  with  the  notorious  Grierson  of  Lagg,  and  Major 
Windram,  that  the  doom  of  the  martyrs  had  been  pro- 
nounced. 


THE    MARTYRS    OF    WIGTON.  203 

There  is  a  wild  legend  yet  current  in  Wigtonshire,  that 
when  Margaret  Wilson  was  thrust  back  into  the  water,  the 
miserable  provost  who  had  prevented  the  reversal  of  her 
sentence,  called  out  with  scoffing  exultation,  "  Hech !  my 
hearty!  tak'  anither  drink!"  He  returned  to  his  home; 
claimed,  no  doubt,  good  service-money  from  Grahame; 
and,  for  a  time,  as  such  creatures  do,  went  on  and  pros- 
pered, only,  he  found  himself  distempered  by  a  most  per- 
plexing thirst.  Early,  and  late,  at  home  and  abroad — 
pompous  in  the  administration  of  his  office,  or  tame  in  the 
seclusion  of  his  fireside,  water — water — water  became  in- 
creasingly his  necessity — another  and  another  drink,  his 
appallingly  suggestive  cry  !  Physicians  were  resorted  to  in 
vain;  medicaments  were  swallowed  without  effect;  the 
mysterious  disease  crept  on,  resistless  by  any  human  agen- 
cy, and  began  to  evidence  by  outward  manifestations,  the 
extremity  of  its  consuming  violence  within.  For  years,  it 
is  said,  after  the  Revolution  the  miserable  spectacle  of  the 
then  ex-provost  of  Wigton,  might  be  seen,  creeping  daily 
along  the  by-ways  of  the  little  town,  with  ghastly  visage, 
and  with  wasted  limbs,  shrinking  from  the  observation  he 
excited,  and  often  turning  back  to  scatter  with  his  maledic- 
tions the  band  of  urchins  who  gathered  after  him  with 
shouts,  yet  unable  to  refrain,  even  in  the  open  streets,  and 
beneath  the  pointing  finger,  from  snatching  "  another  and 
another  drink"  at  the  hands  of  the  servant  lass,  who  fol- 
lowed him  like  his  shadow,  bending  beneath  the  weight  of 


204  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

an  enormous  water-can !     And  of  this  unquenchable  thirst- 
ing, at  last,  the  persecutor  died ! 


NOTE  8. 

Ay  !  gnash  thy  teeth  in  impotence  !  the  fated  hour 
is  come. 

It  is  unnecessary  almost  to  refer  to  Mr.  Macaulay's  His- 
tory, for  the  detail  of  all  the  truly  memorable  circum- 
stances attendant  on  the  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  in 
Torbay ;  only,  the  writer  would  wish  to  accept  to  the  full, 
a  share  (if  well  deserved)  in  the  imputation  of  supersti- 
tious weakness,  therein  hinted  against  such  as  delight  to 
consider  those  circumstances  providential,  and  to  render  all 
the  praise  and  glory  of  our  great  national  deliverance  to 
Him,  whom  winds  and  waves  obey,  who  maketh  inquisition 
for  blood,  and  who  is  verily  the  God  that  judgeth  in  the 
earth ! 


THE  LAST  WORDS  OF  HUGH  MACKATL. 


ISorfe  Bf 


"And  now  I  leave  off  to  speak  any  more  to  creatures,  and  be- 
gin  my  intercourse  with  God,  which  shall  never  be  broken  off"— 
HUGH  MACKAIL. 

THIS  young  minister  suffered  martyrdom  in  Edinburgh, 
December  22,  1666,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-six,  after 
being  horribly  tortured  with  the  boot.  His  ostensible  crime 
was  having  been  concerned  in  the  rising  at  Pentland ;  his  real 
one,  having  preached  a  sermon  on  his  first  entrance  into 
the  ministry,  which  exposed  him  to  the  personal  enmity  of 
Sharp.  "  His  appearance  on  the  scaffold,"  says  Kivkton. 
"  excited  such  a  lamentation  as  was  never  known  in  Scotland 
before  ;  not  one  dry  cheek  upon  all  the  street,  or  in  all  the 
numberless  windows  in  the  market  place." 


208  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

FAREWELL  !  thou  earth,  and  all  delights — 
Farewell !  thou  moon  and  sun — 

Farewell !  clear  days  and  starlit  nights — - 
The  pilgrim's  rest  is  won  ! 

Farewell !  my  earthly  father's  love  ! 

Farewell !  my  mother's  kiss  ! 
Faint  shadows  from  my  home  above — 

True  foretastes  of  my  bliss  ! 

Farewell !  light  Cross  of  God's  own  Son  ! 

Farewell !  reproach  and  shame  ! 
Farewell !  dear  work  for  Jesus  done — 

Sweet  suffering  for  His  name  ! 

Farewell !  the  courts  of  God  below — 
All  rich  refreshments  there  ! 

I  take  my  leave  of  sin  and  wo. 
And  I  have  done  with  prayer  ! 


THE    LAST    WORDS    OF    HUGH    MAC  KAIL.          209 

Now  welcome  !   0  my  Father — God  ! 

My  Brother  !  Saviour  !  King  ! 
Welcome  !  thrice  precious  staff  and  rod — 

Thrice  goodly — robe  and  ring  ! 

Welcome  !  0  Holy  Ghost — Thy  breath, 

In  rich  effusion  given  ! 
Welcome  !  the  bitter  sweet  of  death — 

And  welcome  !  opening  Heaven  ! 


THE  MERRIE  TRAGEDIE 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL, 


{p  3&nm  togrife  nf  tju  ^ragi  Imtrt  dfti 


September  1,  1558. 

"  Such  ane  sudden  fray  came  never  amongis  the  generation  of 
Antichrist  within  this  realme  befoir." — JOHN  KNOX'S  Historic. 

ST.  GYLES  was  the  patron  Saint  of  Edinburgh ;  and  his 
Church  (still  the  High  Church  of  the  city)  is  the  earliest 
parish  Church  of  which  record  remains  within  its  bounds. 
How  an  Athenian  noble,  migrating  at  the  close  of  the 
seventh  century  to  France,  to  enjoy,  amid  the  wild  soli- 
tudes of  the  Rhone,  the  quiet  and  retirement,  of  which  the 
fame  of  his -sanctity  and  learning  deprived  him  at  home, 
became  the  patron  saint  of  our  far  northern  metropolis,  it 
is  impossible  at  this  distance  of  time  to  tell.  The  fact  is 
all  that  has  come  down  to  us ;  and  the  Saint,  having  been 
held  in  marvellous  estimation,  his  effigy  not  only  adorned 
the  city  arms,  but  many  offerings  of  price  w^re  made  at 


214  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

his  shrine.  Of  these  a  curious  inventory  exists,  they  hav- 
ing been  ruthlessly  exposed  to  sale  by  the  Magistrates  of 
Edinburgh  subsequent  to  the  Reformation.  About  the 
year  1454,  the  greatest  treasure  of  all  was  presented,  being 
no  less  a  relic  than  "  the  armbane"  of  the  Saint,  procured 
we  are  told  by  William  Preston  of  Gorton,  after  long  en- 
treaty and  at  considerable  expense,  through  the  kindly  in- 
tervention of  the  King  of  France.  In  token  of  gratitude 
for  so  inestimable  a  gift,  the  descendants  of  that  gentle- 
man were  entitled  to  carry  the  relic  (enclosed  in  a  silver 
case,  and  wearing  a  splendid  ring  on  its  ghastly  finger)  in 
the  annual  procession  in  honor  of  the  Saint,  which  toojt 
place  on  the  1st  of  September,  St.  Gyles'  day  in  the  calen- 
dar. But  the  light  for  which  Patrick  Hamilton  prayed  amid 
the  fires,  had  arisen  upon  his  country.  The  cruel  death  of 
George  Wishart  in  1546,  and  more  recently  of  old  Walter 
Mill,  the  last  direct  victim  of  the  Papacy  in  Scotland,  had 
stimulated  inquiry,  and  aroused  indignation  to  the  highest 
pitch.  And  though  John  Knox  had  been  for  a  season  re- 
moved, after  the  surrender  of  St.  Andrews  to  the  French 
in  1547,  his  friend  and  subsequent  coadjutor,  John  Willock, 
was  so  indefatigable  in  his  evangelical  work,  that  "  albeit," 
we  are  told,  "he  contracted  a  dangerous  sickness,  yet  he 
ceased  not  from  labors,  but  taught  and  exhorted  from  his 
bed"  Some  of  the  nobility,  with  many  barons  and  gentle- 
men, were  his  auditors,  and  by  him  "  were  godly  instructed 
and  wondrouslie  comforted."  Under  these  circumstances, 
when  St.  Gyles'  day  drew  near,  in  the  year  1558,  the  Queen 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.  215 

Regent,  Mary  of  Guise,  and  her  Popish  councillors,  were 
not  a  little  concerned  to  secure  its  observance  with  all  due, 
and  even  more  than  customary,  solemnity :  hoping,  perhaps, 
that  the  show  and  splendor  would  be  of  some  avail  in  win-^ 
ning  back,  at  least  the  multitude,  to  the  ancient  faith.  To 
do  the  day  all  possible  honor,  therefore,  the  Queen  herself, 
with  a  gorgeous  train  of  nobles  and  dignified  ecclesiastics, 
came  to  town,  to  walk  in  the  procession  behind  the  effigy 
of  the  Saint — but  alas.!  the  goodly  Sanct  Geil  (a  wooden 
image  of  gigantic  proportions,  for  whose  yearly  painting 
and  adorning  some  curious  items  of  city  expenditure  re- 
main) had  met  the  fate  recorded  in  the  poem,  and  a  lesser 
image  having  been  borrowed  from  the  Grey  Friars  for  the 
occasion,  the  event  turned  out,  not  to  the  honor,  but  to  the 
dishonor  of  the  Saint ;  and.  we  believe,  the  procession  in 
question  was  the  last  of  the  kind  in  Scotland,  till  in  our 
own  day — the  enlightened  nineteenth  century — the  Holy 
Guild,  or  Brotherhood  of  St.  Joseph,  began  its  rambles  in 
and  about  Edinburgh ! 

— UP  !  up  !  and  featly  deck  the  shrines, 

And  busk  the  tapestrie  ; — 
The  Queen  with  dawning  light  she  comes — 

A  worthy  Regent  she  ! 


216  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Let  heretics  both  rave  and  roup,* 

Let  bedfast  Willock  pray ; — 
A  goodlie  gathering  we'll  have, 

Upon  St.  Geiles — his  day  ! 

Here  comes-  Carmichael  with  his  keys1 — 
"  My  joys  !  what  cheer,  I  trow  ? 

Why  fled  so  fast  the  cowls  I  met, 
By  the  Nor'  Loch— but  now  1" 

"  Haste  !  haste  !  where  snores  the  Sacristan  ? 

Go — clamor  here  the  loun  ! — 
The  Saint  must  don  his  finger  ring — 

Our  Ladye  her  best  gown  !" — 

"  Make  candlestick  and  chalice  bright — 

(The  pix  is  rusty  grown  !) — 
Reach  hither  the  comb  of  St.  Peter's  cock2 — 

It  lies  by  Sanct  Geiles'  armbone!" — 
*  "  Rouping  like  ravens."— JOHN  KNOX. 


THE    YONGE    SANCT    GEiL. 


"  St.  Ninian's  nails  —  St.  Andrew's  teeth  — 

A  joint  of  St.  David's  toe  — 
What  marvels  they  wrought,  when  '  Believe  or  burn/ 

Was  the  watchword  late  ago  ! 

"  Now  well-a-day  !  the  old  faith's  away  — 

Not  a  bodle  to  bless  us  whiles  ! 
The  very  auld  wives  spell  the  Bible  book  — 

But-—  St.  Mary  !—  whare's  Sanct  Geiles?"— 

Down  dashed  the  light  from  his  trembling  hand  — 

All  started  to  the  spot  !  — 
And  the  moon  showed  —  cold  and  carelessly  — 

The  place  where  the  Saint  was  not  ! 

"  Now  a  malison  wither  each  counterfeit  father, 

I  met  by  'the  Nor'  Loch  but  now  !  — 
When  their  errand  I  speired  —  the  false  Huguenots 
jeered, 

'And  said  they  but  paid  a  vow  !" 
10 


218      LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Bl  ack  gloomed  the  Bailie — black  scowled  the  Prior — 
Cried  the  Sacristan — like  to  faint, — ' 

"Disciples  of  him — made  our  Ladye  swim3 — 
What  reck  they  of  drowning  a  Saint !" 

"  Ah  well-a-day  !  the  old  faith's  away  !" 
Still  the  Sacristan  harped  on  his  string ; 

Adding  in  with  a  sigh — half  of  grief,  half  of  joy — 
"  They  have  left  us  his  finger  ring  !" 

— Now  out  and  spake  a  wise  young  Friar — 
"  Grood  Fathers — what  means  this  rout  ? 

Though  the  Saint  have  been  sunk  in  the  harbor  of 

Leith, 
What  hinders  him  to  come  out  ?" — 

rti 

"  If  all  tales  be  true — we  have  heard  from  you — 
More  wondrous  things  may  chance ! 

Think  of  blessed  St.  Denys  who  carried  his  head, 
In  the  sight  of  the  faithful  of  France  ! 


THE  YONGE  SANOT  GEIL.  219 

"  And  though  our  Sanct  G-eil  be  of  goodlie  weight, 
The  angels  may  hasten  him  home  ; — 

Like  the  holy  houses  they  carried  about,4 
And  the  holy  stairs — to  Rome  ! 

"  What  heretic  hearts  might  the  sight  convert, 

It  could  never  be  needed  more ! 
Not  to  whisper  the  wavering  faith  of  some, 

Who  might  meet  him  at  the  door !" 

The  young  brother  turned  on  his  heel  and  laughed — 

There  were  others  that  laughed  as  well — 
Quoth  the  Prior — with  a  grim,  blood-hungered  look- 
He  hath  drunk  of  St.  Leonard's  well  !"5 

— -The  night  wears  late  in  a  hot  debate — 
But,  spite  of  all  scheming  and  wishes, 

The  meikle  Sanct  Geil  must  abide  for  awhile—- 
Like St.  Anthony — -preaching  to  fishes  ! 


220  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

— Carmichael  is  boune  to  the  Grey  Friars'  now — 
Broad  pieces  to  back  his  petition  ! — 

And  the  little  stars  twinkle,  and  wink  from  the  sky, 
As  if  with  a  hint  of  his  mission  ! 

"  Gie  your  Sanct  Geil — for  our  Sanct  Geil — 

And  tak  the  gowd  in  fee  ; 
A  large  propine  for  a  sma' — sma'  Sanct, 

But  a  Sanct  behoves  there  be  !" — 

— Now  morning  light  comes  slowly  up — 

An  autumn  morning  clear — 
And  goodly  fair  the  city  shows, 

In  the  waning  of  the  year  f 

There  are  hangings  rich  from  balconies, 

Devices  quaint  and  gay  j 
And  many  a  broidered  banner  flung. 

Upon  the  wind  that  day  ! 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GE1L.          221 

And  there  are  crosses  in  the  street, 

New  planted  every  where  : 
And  garlands  hung  from  house  to  house, 

With  streamers  flaunting  fair ! 

And  gallant  youths,  all  gaily  dight, 

Are  riding  through  the  town  ; 
And  maidens  fair,  from  casements  high, 

All  gaily  dight  look  down  ! 

Aaad  nobles  proud — and  shavelings  base — 

In  mixed  array  are  seen; 
All  thronging  forth  in  festive  guise, 

To  meet  the  Regent  Queen  ! 

In  sooth  it  is  a  goodly  sight, — 

As  she  conies  stately  down  ; 
With  sunshine  on  the  pageant  fair — 

But  her  forehead  wears  a  frown  ! 


222  LAYS    OF    THE   KIRK    AND    COVENANT, 

For  one  hath  met  her  at  the  Port — 

A  hasty  word  to  speak  ; — 
And  the  Gruisian  blood  that  instant  burned, 

Like  a  death  fire  in  her  cheek  I 

But  stately  onward  paced  she  still. 
Even  to  St.  G-eiles — his  Church  ; 

(There  were  belted  Earls  who  left  her  trainy 
As  it  went  through  the  porch  !) 

— The  bells  are  rung — the  mass  is  sung — 

And  pouring  from  the  aisles. 
Come  priest  and  prior — monk,  frere,  and  choir, 

They  are  bringing  out  St.  Geiles  ! 

And  lo  !  the  torches  in  the  sun — 

They  darkly  smoke  and  flare — 
Some  think  they  show  like  Papist  dreams, 

In  the  Gospel  sunshine  fair  ! 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL,          223 

And  white-robed  boys — fling  incense  clouds, 

As  they  go  down  the  street ; — 
There  are  that  whisper,  "  Bonnie  bairns, 

Christ's  name  is  far  more  sweet !" 

And  silver  crosses  glancing  shine, 
And  trumpet  blasts  are  blown — 

And  proudly  Preston  paces  on — 
He  bears  St.  Geils'  armbone  ! 

And  now — and  now — whilst  nobles  bow — 

And  mitres  proud  are  seen  ; 
The  Saint  is  borne  in  triumph  forth, 

Behind  him  comes  the  Queen ! 

There  were  who  bent  them  down  to  pray — 
(Some  wept  for  shame  the  while) ; 

But  the  gazing  crowd — they  shouted  loud, 
"  They  have  gotten  a  young  Sanct  Geil !" 


224     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

Eyes  flashing  fire — cheek  white  with  ire — 
Stern  paused  that  angry  Queen  ; 

But  she  only  met  a  mocking  laugh — 
And  her  French  guards  came  between  ! 

So  on  the  long  procession  passed, 

Through  streets  both  broad  and  narrow — 

To  make  the  little  Saint  look  big, 
They  raised  him  on  a  barrow ! 

And  in  and  out — and  west  about,6 

| 
Still  swept  the  pageant  fine, 

Till  up  the  High  Street  it  returned, 
And  the  Queen  she  passed  to  dine  ! 

Now  angry  men — with  glances  stern, 

Began  to  gather  near ; 
And  words  were  bandied  in  the  crowd — 

111  cared  the  priests  to  hear  ! 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.          225 

«  And  ha  !  Sanct  Geil !— -and  ho  !  Sanct  Geil ! 

Thou  art  waxen  unco  wee  ! 
Was  thy  father  feared  to  face  the  sun, — 

That  he  hath  sent  us  thee  ?" 

"  And  hech !  to  see  the  wee  wee  Sanct, 
In  the  muckle  auld  Sanct's  shoon  ! — 

Gude  sirs  !  when  idols  dwindle  sma', 
They're  gaun  to  vanish  soon  !" 

And  auld  wives  raised  their  distaffs  high, 

And  clamored  in  the  crowd ; 
And  some  banned  here — and  some  blessed  there, 

Till  the  strife  swelled  fierce  and  loud  ! 

• 
"  Eyes  hast  thou  gotten — thou  young  St.  Geil, 

But  I  trow  thou  canst  not  see— 
A  wide,  wide  mouth — but  the  priests,  I  wot, 

Do  not  leave  the  meat  for  thee !" 
10* 


226     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

"  If  thy  ears  can  hear — thou  niayst  bend  them  now 
To  the  doom  that  speaks  thee  dead" — 

With  that  was  a  sudden  rush  on  the  Saint — 
And  the  priests  that  bare  him  fled  ! 

Then  out  there  pealed  a  stern,  clear  voice — 

It  seemed  from  every  where  ; — 
"  Though  Jezebel  honored  the  priests  of  Baal, 

For  that— did  Elijah  spare  ?" 

And  oh  !  the  clamor — and  oh  !  the  roar — 

As  the  strife  of  an  angry  sea — 
The  Queen  from  table  she  started  up, 

111  cheer  that  day  made  she  ! 

Now  Dagon  lieth  without  his  head — 

His  limbs  in  pieces  small — 
Strange  panic  seized  on  all  his  train, 

When  they  saw  their  idol  fall ! 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.  227 

And  down  the  silver  crosses  went — 

In  shreds  the  banners  flew — 
And  goodlie  garments  of  Babylon, 

"Were  rent  and  tattered  too ! 

St.  Andrew's  teeth — they  bit  the  dust — 

Alas  !  for  St.  David's  toe  ! 
And  Preston  threw  from  him  St.  G-eiles*  armbone, 

As  far  as  it  would  go ! 

Since  our  gude  town  was  first  a  town, 

There  never  was  seen  the  like  ; — 
There  were  Papist  nobles  that  drew  their  swords, 

But  they  knew  not  where  to  strike  ! 

So  some  fled  east — and  some  fled  west — 

As  the  day  it  darkened  down — 
There  was  one  who  borrowed  an  auld  wife's  mutch, 

To  cover  a  shaven  crown  ! 


228     LAYS  OF  THE  KIHK  AND  COVENANT. 

And  some  fled  south — and  some  fled  north- 
As  it  were  for  limb  and  life — 

And  some  have  crossed  the  Queensferrie7 
And  hidden  themselves  in  Fife ! 

And  from  that  day — unto  this  day, 

The  like  hath  never  come  ; 
The  priests  grew  wary  from  that  hour, 

And  kept  their  saints  at  home  ! 

But  the  broken  Sanct  would  never  mend — 
And  there  chanced  a  woful  thing — 

For  even  Carmichael  gave  his  voice, 
To  sell  his  finger  ring  ! 

They  tore  him  from  the  city  arms — 

They  buried  his  armbone ; 
His  name  sounds  strangely  in  the  Kirk, 

That  once  was  all  his  own ! 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.  229 

And  there  may  gospel  preachers  stand — 

Nor  popish  taint  defile  ; 
And  may  all  Papist  idols  meet — 

The  fate  of  the  young  Sanct  Geil ! 


\ 


Jfote  to          nnB  intirt 


NOTE  1. 
Here  comes  Carmichaei  with  ins  keys. 

James  Carmichael  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  Magis- 
trates of  Edinburgh.  He  filled  the  office  of  Dean  of  Guild 
from  October  1552-53.  Again  from  1555-6;  and  from 
1557-59.  In  his  official  capacity  he  had  the  charge  of  the 
"  Kirkwerk,"  that  is,  of  looking  after  the  preservation  of 
St.  Giles's  Church,  and  taking  charge  of  the  jewels,  the  gold 
and  silver  candlesticks,  eucharists,  chalices,  and  otner  pre- 
cious things,  belonging  to  that  Church  ;  but  these  were  all 
ruthlessly  disposed  of,  by  order  of  the  Council  (including 
the  armbane  of  Sanct  Geill,  or  rather  the  ring  with  "ane 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.  231 

dyamant  stane,  quhilk  was  on  the  fingar  of  the  forsaid  arme 
of  Sanct  Gcill,")  in  October  1560.— Vide  Note  to  p.  259,  vol. 
i.,  Edition  of  the  Works  of  JOHN  KNOX,  by  the  Wodrow  So- 
ciety. 


NOTE  2. 

Keach  hither  the  comb  of  St.  Peter's  cock — 
It  lies  by  Sanct  Q-eiles'  armbone  ! — 

This  is,  of  course,  not  presented  as  an  authentic  cata- 
logue of  the  actual  relics  of  which  the  Reformation  depriv- 
ed the  Church  of  St.  Gyles — the  "  armbane"  being  the  only 
one,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  of  which  the  tradition  has 
come  down  to  us  ;  but  we  appeal  to  all  who  have  travelled 
on  the  Continent  (and  few  in  our  day  have  not),  whether 
the  list  be  even  a  caricature  of  those  belonging  to  almost 
every  Popish  Church  of  note.  We  would  especially  recall 
to  the  recollection  of  our  readers,  the  -greater  and  lesser 
relics  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  those  at  Cologne,  Treves  with  its 
Holy  Coat,  Monza,  and  last,  not  least,  those  of  St.  John  de 
Lateran  at  Rome,  with  the  table  on  which  the  Last  Supper 
is  said  to  have  been  prepared !  Are  we  to  smile  or  shudder 
at  such  things  7 


232     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 


NOTE  3. 

Disciples  of  him — made  our  Ladye  swim — 
What  reck  they  of  drowning  a  Saint ! 

John  Knox  relates  in  his  history  a  humorous  incident 
"  which  took  place  during  his  confinement  on  board  the 
French  galleys  after  the  capitulation  of  St.  Andrews  in 
1547." — "  One  day  a  fine  painted  image  of  the  Virgin  was 
brought  into  one  of  the  galleys,  and  a  Scottish  prisoner  was 
desired  to  give  it  the  kiss  of  adoration.  He  refused,  say- 
ing, '  That  such  idols  were  accursed,  and  he  would  not 
touch  it.'  '  But  you  shall,'  replied  one  of  the  officers 
roughly,  at  the  same  time  forcing  it  towards  his  mouth. 
Upon  this  the  prisoner  seized  the  image,  and  throwing  it 
into  the  river,  said,  '  Let  our  Ladie  now  save  herself;  sche 
is  lycht  enoughe,  lat  hir  leirne  to  swyme.'  The  officers 
with  difficulty  saved  their  goddess  from  the  waves  ;  and  the 
prisoners  were  relieved  for  the  future  from  such  trouble- 
some importunities."  Dr.  M'Crie,  from  whose  "Life  of 
Knox"  this  quotation  is  made,  observes,  that  though  the 
Reformer  has  not  said  so,  it  is  highly  probable  he  himself 
was  the  person  concerned  in  the  affair.  In  the  poem,  this 
is  assumed  to  have  been  actually  the  case. 


THE  YONGE  SANCT  GEIL.          233 


NOTE  4. 

Like  the  holy  houses  they  carried  about, 
And  the  holy  stairs — to  Rome  ! 

The  peregrinations,  of  the  Santa  Casa  of  Loretto  are  too 
well  known  to  require  recapitulation  here ;  and  those  who 
have  watched  the  miserable  devotees,  crawling  up  the  Santa 
Scala  at  Rome,  for  the  sake  of  the  indulgences  promised 
to  wasted  time  and  macerated  knees,  may  well  be  excused 
for  hesitating  whether  to  ascribe  its  transportation  from 
Pilate's  house  to  the  angels  of  light,  or  of  darkness  !  We 
have  heard  much  of  late  of  the  high-toned  devotion— the 
intellectual  cultivation  of  the  Romish  priestJwod — and  when 
we  venture  to  refer  to  instances  like  these  in  question,  of 
the  gross  superstition  and  mental  prostration  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  Romish  laity,  we  are  met  by  the  fashionable 
outcry  against  Protestant  illiberality,  and  charged  with  un- 
fairness in  aspersing  a  system,  with  the  ignorances  and  im- 
becilities pf  its  uneducated  votaries.  But,  we  answer,  Are 
these  errors — these  imbecilities — disavowed  by  the  author- 
ized standards,  or  the  authorized  teachers  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  ?  Are  they  not,  on  the  contrary,  very  parts  and 
parcels  of  Romanism  itself— portions  so  essential  to  the 
edifice,  that,  if  taken  away,  the  whole  fabric  i  lust  totter  to 


234  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

dissolution  1  And  if  so,  What  resemblance  can  such  a 
structure  bear  to  the  "holy  and  beautiful  house" — the 
"  living  temple" — built  with  "  lively  stones,"  having  the 
Son  of  God  alike  for  its  foundation  and  its  chief  corner- 
stone— of  which  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  was  but  a  type — 
and  wherein  only,  the  Spirit  of  God  has  promised  to  dwell  7 
That  can  be  no  Church  of  Christ,  which  has  myths  and 
mysteries  for  the  initiated,  and  but  the  grossness  of  super- 
stition for  the  mass  of  the  people ;  for  "  to  the  poor"  es- 
pecialty,  the  Gospel  is  preached.  Jesus,  who  came  "a  light 
into  the  world,"  rejoiced  in  spirit,  that  "  what  was  hid  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  was  revealed  unto  babes."  And 
when  Scribes  and  Pharisees  took  counsel  to  slay  Him,  we 
are  told  that ' '  the  common  people  heard  Him  gladly."  Where 
Christ's  Church  is,  there  must  be  light,  not  darkness,  for 
the  poor,  "The  entrance  of  Thy  words  giveth  light;  it 
givelh  understanding  to  the  simple" — (Ps.  cxix.  130.)  "  And 
Thou,  0  God,  hast  prepared  of  thy  goodness  for  the  poor  /" — 
(Ps.  Ixviii.  10.) 


NOTE  5. 
He  liath  drunk  of  St.  Leonard's  well  I 

Gavin  Logic,  Principal  of  St.  Leonard's  College,  St.  An- 
drews, was  so  successful  in  instilling  the  Reformed  opinions 


THE   YONGE    SANCT    GEiL.  235 

into  the  minds  of  his  students,  that  it  became  proverbial 
to  say  of  any  one  who  was  suspected  of  Lutheranism,  "  He 
hath  drunk  of  St.  Leonard's  well !" 


NOTE  6. 

And  in  and  out — and  west  about. 
Still  swept  the  pageant  fine. 

"  West  about  goes  it,  and  cumis  doun  the  Hie  Street,  and 
doun  to  the  Canno  Croce.  The  Quein  Regent  dyned  that 
day  in  Sandie  Carpetyne's  housse,  betuix  the  Bowes,  and 
so  when  the  idole  returned  back  agane,  sche  left  it,  and 
past  in  to  hir  dennar." — KNOX'S  Historic. 


CAMERONIAN    DREAM. 


The  following  beautiful  tributary  verses  to  the  memory 
of  those  who  fell  at  Airsmoss,  were  written  by  James  His- 
lop,  a  native  of  the  district  where  the  skirmish  took  place. 
He  composed  them  when  only  a  shepherd  boy,  and  when  he 
had  enjoyed  few  opportunities  of  improving  his  mind. 
They  have  frequently  been  reprinted,  but  seldom  correctly. 
The  following  version  is  copied  from  the  Scots  Magazine 
for  February  1821  :— 

IN  a  dream  of  the  night  I  was  wafted  away, 
To  the  moorland  of  mist  where  the  martyrs  lay ; 
Where  Cameron's  sword  and  his  Bible  are  seen, 
Engraved  on  the  stane  where  the  heather  grows  green 


240  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

'Twas    a    dream    of  those    ages   of  darkness   and 

blood, 
When  the  minister's  hame  was  the  mountain  and 

wood  ; 
When  in  Wellwood's  dark  moorlands  the  standard 

of  Zion, 
All  bloody  and  torn,  'raang  the  heather  was  lying. 


It  was  morning,  and  summer's  young  sun,  from  the 
east, 

Lay  in  loving  repose  on  the  green  mountain's 
breast, 

On  Wardlaw,  and  Cairn-Table,  the  clear  shining 
dew, 

Glistened  sheen  'mang  the  heath-bells  and  moun- 
tain flowers  blue. 


CAMERONIAN    DREAM.  241 

And  far  up  in  heaven  in  the  white  sunny  cloud, 
The  sang  of  the  lark  was  melodious  and  loud, 
And  in  Glenmuir's  wild  solitudes,  lengthened  and 

deep. 
Was  the  whistling  of  plovers  and  the  bleating  of 

sheep. 

And  "YVellwood's  sweet  valley  breathed  music  and 
gladness, 

The  fresh  meadow  blooms  hung  in  beauty  and  red- 
ness, 

Its  daughters  were  happy  to  hail  the  returning, 

And  drink  the  delights  of  green  July's  bright 
morning. 

But  ah  !  there  were  hearts  cherished  far  other 
feelings, 

Illumed  by  the  light  of  prophetic  reveolings, 
11 


242  LAYS    OF    THE    KIRK    AND    COVENANT. 

Who  drank  from  this  scenery  of  beauty  but  sorrow, 
For  they  knew  that  their  blood  would  bedew  it 
to-morrow. 


'Twas  the   few  faithful  ones  who,  with  Cameron, 

were  lying 
Concealed  'mang  the  mist,  where  the  heath-fowl 

was  crying ; 
For  the  horsemen  of  Earlshall  around  them  were 

hovering, 
And  their  bridle-reins  rung  though  the  thin  misty 

covering. 

Their  faces  grew  pale,  and  their  swords  were  un- 
sheathed, 

But  the  vengeance  that  darkened  their  brows  was 
unbreathed ; 


CAMERONIAN    DREAM.  243 

With  eyes  raised  to  Heaven,  in  meek  resignation, 
They  sung  their  last  song  to  the  God  of  Salvation. 

The  hills  with  the  deep  mournful  music  were  ring- 
ing? 
The  curlew  and  plover  in  concert  were  singing  ; 

But  the  melody  died  'midst  derision  and  laughter, 
As  the  hosts  of  ungodly  rushed  on  to  the  slaughter. 

Though  in  mist  and  in  darkness  and  fire  they  were 
shrouded, 

Yet  the  souls  of  the  righteous  stood  calm  and  un- 
clouded ; 

Their  dark  eyes  flashed  lightning,  as,  proud  and 
unbending, 

They  stood  like  the  rock  which  the  thunder  is 
rending. 


244     LAYS  OF  THE  KIRK  AND  COVENANT. 

The   muskets  were  flashing,  the  blue   swords  were 

gleaming. 
The  helmets  were  cleft,   and  the  red  blood  was 

streaming. 

The  heavens  grew  dark,  and  the  thunder  was  rolling, 
When  in  Wellwood's  dark  moorlands  the  mighty 

were  falling. 

\Yhen  the  righteous  had  fallen,  and  the  combat  had 

ended, 

A  chariot  of  fire  through  the  dark  cloud  descended, 
The  drivers  were  angels  on  horses  of  whiteness. 
And   its   burning   wheels    turned   upon    axles  of 

brightness. 

A  seraph  unfolded  its  doors  bright  and  shining, 
All  dazzling  like  gold  of  the  seventh  refining, 


CAMERONIAN    DREAM.  245 

And  the  souls  that  came  forth  out  of  great  tribu- 
lation, 
Have  mounted  the  chariot  and  steeds  of  salvation. 

On  the  arch  of  the  rainbow  the  chariot  is  gliding. 
Through  the  paths  of  the  thunder  the  horsemen 

are  riding. 

Glide  swiftly,  bright  spirits,  the  prize  is  before  ye, 
A  crown  never  fading,  a  kingdom  of  glory ! 


FINIS. 


PUBLISHED    BY 


ROBERT  CARTER  i  BROTHERS, 

285   BROADWAY,  NEW-YORK. 


ABEEL'S  (Rev.  David)  Life.    By  his  Nephew,    -fimo, . . . .  $    50 

ABERCROMBIE'S  Contest  and  The  Armour.    32mo,  gilt,  25 

ADAM'S  Three  Divine  Sisters— Faith,  Hope  and  Charity,.. .  60 

ADVICE  TO  A  YOUNG  CHRISTIAN.     18mo, 30 

ALLEINE'S  Gospel  Promises.    18mo, 30 

Lif   and  Letters.    12rno, 60 

ALEXANDER'S  Counsels  to  the"  Young.    32mo,  gilt 25 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  of  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  &c., 

4  vols., 2  00 

ANDERSON'S  Annals  of  the  English  Bible.    8vo, 1  75 

FamilyBook.    12mo, 75 

AUSTRALIA,  the  Loss  of  the  Brig,  by  Fire.    18mo, 25 

B  AG-STER— The  Authenticity  and  Inspiration  of  the  Bible,  60 

BAXTER'S  Saint's  Rest.    Large  type.    12mo, 60 

Call  to  the  Unconverted.    18mo, 30 

Choice  Works.   12mo, 60 

BIBLE  EXPOSITOR.     Illustrated.    ISmo,., 50 

BICKERSTETH'S  Treatise  on  Prayer.    18mo, 40 

Treatise  on  the  Lord's  Supper.    18mo, 30 

BLOSSOMS  OF  CHILDHOOD.    By  the  author  of  the 

"Broken  Bud."    16mo, ; , 

BLUNT' S    Undesigned  Coincidences,  and   Paley's   Horse 

Paulinas.    In  one  volume  8vo, 2  00 

BOGATZKY'S  Golden  Treasury.    24mo,  gilt, 5U 


PUBLICATIONS. 


SONAR'S  (Rev.  Horatius)  Night  of  Weeping, 30 

Morning  of  .Toy,  a  sequel  to  the  above. 40 

Story  of  Grace, 30 

Truth  and  Error.    18mo, 40 

BONAR'S  (Rev.  An  ! re w)  Commentary  on  Leviticus.    8vo,  15^ 

BONNET'S  Family  of  Bethany.    18mo, 40 

—  Meditations  on  the  Lord's  Prayer.     13mo, 40 

BOOTH'S  Reign  of  Grace.    12mo, 75 

BORROWS  Bible  and  Gipsies  of  Spain.    8vo,  clo  h.    New 

Edition, 1  00 

BOSTON'S  Four-fold  State.    18mo, 50 

—  Crook  in  the  Lot.    18mo, 30 

BROKEN  BUD  ;   or,  the  Reminiscences  of  a  Bereaved 

Mother.     IGmo, 75 

BROWN'S  (Rev.  John,  D.D.)  Exposition  of  First  Peter.  8vo,  2  50 

On  the  Sayings  and  Discourses  of  Christ, 

BROWN'S  Explication  of  the  Assembly's  Catechism.  i-2mo,  60 

BROWN  (Rev.  David)  on  the  Second  Advent.    12mo, 1  25 

BRIDG-E  S  on  the  Christian  Ministry.    8 vo, 1  50 

—  011  the  Proverbs.    8vo, 2  00 

on  the  CXIX.  Psalm.    New  edition.   8vo, 1  00 

Memoir  of  Mary  Jane  Graham.    8vo, 1  00 

Works.    3  vols.  8vo,  containing  the  above, 5  00 

BROWN'S  Concordance.    New  and  neat  edition.    24mo,...  20 

Do.                      Gilt  edge, 30 

BUCHANAN'S  Comfort  in  Affliction.    18mo, 40 

On  the  Holy  Spirit.     18mo.    Second  edition, 50 

BUNBURY'S  Glory,  Glory,  Glory,  and  other  Narratives,. . .  25 

BUTLER'S  (Bishop)  Complete  Works.    8vo, 1  50 

Sermons,  alone.    8vo, 1  00 

Analogy,  alone.    8vo, 75 

and  Wilson's  Analogy.   8vo, 1  25 

BUNYAN'S  Pilgrim's  Progress,fine  edition, large  type.  12mo,  1  00 

Do.                          Gilt, 150 

Do.                         18mo,  close  type, 50 

— — •  Jerusalem  Sinner  Saved.    18mo, 50 

• Greatness  of  the  Soul.    18mo, 50 

BURN'S  (John)  Christian  Fragments.    18mo, 40 

BURNS'  (Rev.  Jabez)  P.-irables  and  Miracles  of  Christ.  12mo,  75 
QAL/VIN— The  Life  and  Times  of  John  Calvin,  the  Great  Re- 
former.   Py  Paul  Henry,  D.D.    2  vols.  8vo,  Porrait, 3  00 

QA^ERON'S  (Mrs.)  Farmer's  Daughter.    18mo, 30 


~i 


CARTERS7    PUBLICATIONS. 


CATECHISMS— The  Assembly's  Catechism.  Per  hundred,    125 


with  Proofs?, 3  00 


Brown's  Short  Catechism.    Per  hundred, 1  25 

—  Brown  on  the  Assembly's  Catechism.     18mo, 10 

CECIL'S  WORKS.     3  vols.  12mo,  with  Portrait, 3  00 

Sermons,  separate, 1  00 

—  Miscellanies  and  Remains,  separate, .  1  00 

—  Original  Thoughts,  separate, 1  00 

—  (Catharine)  Memoir  of   Mrs.  Hawks,  with .  Portrai*.  1  00 

CHARNOCK'S  Choice  Works, 60 

CHALMERS'  Sermons.    2  vols.  8vo.    With  a  fine  Portrait,  3  00 

--  Lectures  on  Romans.    8vo.                                      "  1  50 

—  Miscellanies.    8vo.                              "                     "  1  50 

—  Select  Works;  comprising  the  above.    4  vols. 8 vo, . . .  6  00 
Evidences  of  Chri  tiau  Revelation.    2  vols., 1  25 

—  Natural  Theology.    2  voL*., 1  25 

Moral  Philosophy, 60 

Commercial  Discourses, 60 

As'ronomical  Discourses, 60 

CHEEVER'S  Lectures  on  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.    Illus- 
trated.   J2rno, 100 

CHRISTIAN  RETIREMENT.     12mo, 75 

—  EXPERIENCE.     By  the  same  Author.    12mo,....  75 
CLARK'S  (Rev.  John  A.,)  Walk  about  Zion.    12mo, 75 

Pastor's  Testimony, 75 

—  Awake,  Thou  Sleeper, 75 

—  Young  Disciple, 88 

Gathered  Fragments, 1  00 

CLARKE'S  Daily  Scripture  Promises.    32mo,  gilt, 30 

COLQUHOUN'Sf  Lady)  World's  RHigion.  New  ed.,  16mo,  50 
COMMANDMENT  WITH  PROMISE.    By  the  Author 

of  u  The  Week,"  &c.    Illustrated  by  Howland.    IGmo, 75 

Do.                         do.                                do.            gilt,  1  00 
COWPER.— The  Works  of  William  Cowper;  comprising 
his  Life,  Letters  and  Poems,  now  first  collected  by  the  in- 
troduction of  Cowper's   Private  Correspondence.    Edited 
by  the  Rev.  T.  S.  Grimshaw.    With  numerous  illustrations 

on  steel,  and  a  fine  Portrait  by  Ritchie.    1  vol.  royal  8vo,. .  3  00 

Do.                          do.                              cloth,  extra  gil',  4  00 

Do.                          do.                               morocco  <  xtra,  5  00 

Poeticnl  Works,  complete,  separate.      2  vols.  iGuio. 

Illustrated, 1  50 

Do.                          do.                                 do,            gilt,  2  00 


CARTEES'    PUBLICATIONS. 


GUMMING-' S  (Rev.  John,  D.D.)  Message  from  God.    18mo,  30 

Christ  Receiving  Sinners, , 30 

CUNNINGHAM' S  World  without  Souls.    18mo, 30 

OUYLER'S  v Re v.  T.  L^  Stray  Arrows, 30 

DALE  (Rev.  Thomas  —The  Golden  Psalm.     16mo, 60 

DAVIES'  Sermons.    3  vols.  12mo, 200 

DAVIDSON'S  (Dr.)  Connexions.    New  edition.    Svo, 150 

Do.                          do.               3  vols.  12mo, 150 

DAVID'S  PSALMS,  in  metre.    Large  type.    12mo,  emb.  75 

Do.                                              do.                     gilt  edge,  1  00 

Do.                                            do.        Turkey  morocco,  2  00 

Do.    18mo,  good  type,  plain  sheep, 38 

Do.    48mo,  very  neat  pocket  edition,  sheep, 20 

Do.        "                "                "               morocco, 25 

Do.        "               "               "              gilt  edge, 31 

Do.        "                "               "               tucks, 50 

Do.    with  Brown's  Notes.    18mo, 50 

Do.                       "                       »'     morocco  gilt, 100 

D'AUBIGNE'S   History  of  the  Reformation.      Carefully 
Revised,  with  various  additions  not  hitherto  published.    4 

vols.  in  two.    12mo,  cloth, v . . .  1  50 

Do.                              do.           Svo,  complete  in  1  vol.,  1  00 

Life  of  Cromwell  the  Protector.    12mo, 50 

Germany,  England,  and  Scotland.    12m o, 75 

Luther  and  Calvin.    18mo, 25 

The    Authority  of   God   the    true    Barrier   against 

Infidel  and  Romish  Aggression, 75 

DICK'S  (John,  D.D.)  Lectures  on  Theology.    Fine  edition, 

with  Portrait.  2  vols.  in  one.    Cloth, 2  50 

Do.                   do.                                                  sheep,  3  00 

Do.                    do.                                  in  2  vols..  cloth,  3  00 

Lectures  on  Acts.    Svo, 1  50 

DICKINSON'S  (Rev.  R.  W.)  Scenes  from  Sacred  History,  1  00 

Responses  from  the  Sacred  Oracles, 1  00 

DODDRIDG-E'S  Rise  and  Progress.    18mo, 40 

Life  of  Colonel  Gardiner.    18mo, 30 

DUNCAN'S  Sacred  Philosophy  of  the  Seasons.    4  vols.,. . .  3  00 
Life.    By  his  Son.     With  Portrait.     12mo, 75 

Tales  of  the  Scottish  Peasantry.    18mo.    Illustrated,..  50 

• •  Cottage  Fireside.     ISmo, 40 

• (Mrs.)  Life  of  Mary  Lundie  Duncan.      16mo, 75 

-, — , Life  of  George  A.  Lundie,    18mo, 50 


CARTERS     PUBLICATIONS. 


DUNCANS  (Mrs.)  Memoir  of  George  B.  Phillips.    18mo,..  25 

—  Children  of  the  Manse, 100 

Do.                    do.     gilt, 125 

—  (Mary  Lundie)  Rhymes  for  my  Children.    Illustrated,  25 
EDWARDS'  Jonathan  D.D.)  Discourses  on  Christian  Love, 

never  before  published.    12mo, 

ERSKINE'S  Gospel  Sonnets.    18rao.    Portrait, 50 

ENGLISH  PULPIT.     8vo, 150 

EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY.     A  Course  of  Lec- 
tures delivered  before  the  University  of  Virginia.    8vo,. . . 
FAMILY  WORSHIP.      A  series  of  Prayers    for  every 
Morning  and  Evening  throughout  the  year,  adapted  to  Do- 
mestic Worship.    By  one  hundred  and  eighty  clergymen  of 

Scotland.    8vo, 

Do.  •      do.  do.  gilt, 

Do.  do.  do.  morocco, 

FERG-U SON'S  Roman  Republic.    8vo, 150 

FISK'S  Memorial  of  the  Holy  L:md.    With  steel  plates,. . . .  1  00 

FLEURY'S  Life  of  David.    12mo, 60 

FOSTER'S  Essays  on  Decision  of  Character,  &c.  Largetype,  75 

Do.                                    do.                clos9  type,  18mo,  50 

Essay  on  the  Evils  of  Popular  Ignorance.    12mo, 75 

FORD'S  Decapolis.    18mo, 25 

FOX— Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Watson  Fox,  Missionary  to 

the  Teloogoos.    Illustrated.    12mo, 1  00 

FRY  (Caroline)— The  Listener.  2  vols.  in  one.    New  illustra- 
ted edition.    16mo,.. 100 

Christ  on  Law.    12mo, 60 

Sabbath  Musings.    18mo, 40 

The  Scripture  Reader's  Guide.    18mo, 30 

Chris'  our  Example,  and  Autobiography.    16mo, 

GEOLOGICAL  COSMOGNY..    By  a  Layman.    18mo,..  30 

GOD  IN  THE  STORM.     18mo,.... 25 

GRAHAM'S  Test  of  Truth.    18mo, 30 

GREEN— The  Life  of  the  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  D.D.    8vo,...  2  00 

GRIFFITH'S  Live  while  you  Live.    18mo, 30 

HALD  ANE '  S  Exposition  of  Romans.    8vo, 2  50 

HALL'S  (Hishop)  Select  Works.    IRmo, 75 

HAMILTON'S  (Rev.  James  D.D.)  Life  in  Earnest.    18mo,  30 

Mount  of  Olives.    18ma, 30 

Harp  on  the  Willows.    18mo, 30 


—  Thankfulness.    18mo,. 


CARTERS'  rt: TJLI CATIONS. 


HAMILTON'S  Life  of  Hall.    24mo,  gilt, 30 

Happy  Home.    Illustrated.    18mo, 50 

Life  of  Lady  Colquhoun.    IGmo, 75 

Do.                    do.                  "    gilt, 1  00 

The  Royal  Preacher;    or,  Lectures  on  Ecclesiaetes. 

Portrait.    16mo, 85 

Do.                             do.                             do.            gilt.  1  25 

HAWKER'S  Poor  Man's  Morning  Portion.    12mo, CO 

Do.                do.        Evening  Portion.         "     60 

Zion's  Pilgrim.     iSmo, 30 

HERVEY'S  Meditations.     18mo, 40 

HE  THE  RING-TON'S  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  1  SO 

HENRY'S  (Matth.)  Method  for  Prayer, ..  40 

Communicant's  Companion.    18mo, 40 

Daily  Communion  with  God.       "     30 

Pleasantness  of  a  Religious  Life.    24mo,  gilt, 30 

• Choice  Works.    12mo, (>0 

HENRY,  Philip,  Life  of.    18mo, 50 

HE  WIT  SON— Memoir  of  the  Rev.  W.  II.  Hewitson,  Free 

Church  Minister  at  Dirleton,  Scotland,  with  Portrait.  12mo,  85 

Do.                              do.                              do.            gilt,  1  i:5 

HILL'S  (George)  Lectures  on  Divinity.    8vo, 2  CO 

(Rowland)  Life.    By  Sidney.    12mo, 75 

HISTORY   OP   THE    PURITANS    IN    ENG-LAND, 

AND  THE  PILG-RIM  FATHERS.     By  Stowoll  and 

Wilson.    12mo, 1  »  0 

HISTORY  OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN  EUROPE.  40 

HOUSMAN' S  Life  and  Remains.     12mo, 75 

HORNE'S  Introduction.    2  vols.  roysl  8vo,  half  cloth, 3  50 

Do.             do.              1  vol.  sheep, 4  CO 

Do.             do.             2  vols.  cloth, 400 

Do.            do.             2  vols,  library  ^tyle, 5  00 

(Bishop,)  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Psalms, 1  50 

HO  WELL'S  LIFE— Perfect  Peace.    18mo, 30 

HOWE'S  Redeemer's  Tears,  and  other  Essays.    18mo, 50 

HOWARD,  (John,)  or  the  Prison  World  of  Europe.    12mo,.  1  00 

HOOKER,  (Rev.  II.,)  The  Uses  of  Adversity.     ISmo, 30 

—  Philosophy  of  Unbelief, 75 

HUSS,  (John,)  Life  of.    Translated  from  the  German, 25 

INFANT'S  PROGRESS.     By  the  Author  of  "Little  Hrn- 

ry  and  his  Bearer."    Illustrated.    I6mo, 75 

Do.                            do.              «     gilt, 1  00 


CARTELS'    PUBLICATIONS. 


JACOBUS  on  Matthew.    With  a  Harmony.    Illustrated,...  75 

Questions  on  do.    18mo, 15 

On  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  (preparing,) 

JAMES'  Anxious  Inquirer.    18mo, 30 

—  True  Christian.     18mo, 30 

Widow  Directed.    18mo, 30 

Young  Man  from  Home, 30 

Christian  Professor.    New  edition.    12mo, 75 

JAMIE  GORDON  ;  or,  The  Orphan.    Illustrated.    16mo,.  75 

Do.                                  do.                                        gilt,  1  00 

JANE  WAY' S  Heaven  upon  Earth.    18mo, 50 

Token  for  Children.    18mo, 30 

JAY'S  Morning  Exercises.     12mo, 75 

Evening           ."               **      75 

Christian  Contemplated.     18mo, 40 

• Jubilee  Memorial.    18mo, 30 

JERRAM'  S  Tribute  to  a  beloved  and  only  Daughter, 30 

JOHNSON'S  Rasselas,  elegant  edition,  16mo, 50 

Do.                      do.                              "    gilt, 75 

KEY  TO  THE  SHORTER  CATECHISM, 20 

KE NNE D Y' S  (Grace)  Profession  is  not  Principle, 30 

Jessy  Allan,  the  Lame  Girl.    18mo, 25 

Anna  Ross.    ISmo.    Illustrated, 30 

KING-'S  (Rev.  David,  LL.  D.)  Geology  and  Religion.  IGrao,. .  75 

•  On  the  Eldership, 

KITTO'S  (John,  D  D.)  Daily  Bible  Illustrations.  4  vols.,..  4  00 

Vol.  I.  Antediluvians  and  Patriarchs, 1  00 

Vol.  1  f.  Moses  and  Judges, 1  00 

Vol.  III.  Samuel  and  David, 100 

Vol.  IV..  Solomon  and  the  Kings, 1  00 

KRUMM  ACHE  R '  S  Martyr  Lamb.   18mo, 40 

Elijah  the  Tishbite.    18mo, 40 

Last  Days  of  Elisha.    New  edition.    18mo, 50 

LANDS  OF  THE  MOSLEM.     By  El-Mukattem.   8vo,..  1  50 

LE  YBURN'  S  Soldier  of  the  Cross.    J2mo, 1  00 

LIFE  IN  NEW-YORK.     18mo, 40 

LIFE  OF  A  VAGRANT.     Written  by  himself, 

LIGHTED  VALLEY;   or,  the  Memoir  of  Miss  Bolton.  75 

Do.                            do.                            do.             gilt,  1  00 

LOWRIE'S  Letters  to  ?abbalh-school  children, 25 

(Rev.  John  C.)  Two  Years  in  Upper  India, 75 


CARTEKS1    PUBLICATIONS. 


LOCKWOOD'S  Memoir.    By  his  Father.    18mo, 40 

LUTHER'S  Commentary  on  the  Galatians.    8vo, 1  50 

MACKAY— The  Wyokliffites, 75 

MARTIN'S  (Sarah)  I  lie.     18mo, 30 

MARTYN'S  (Henry)  Life.    12mo.    New  edition, 60 

MAR  SHALL  on  Sanctification.     18mo, 50 

MARTYRS  AND  COVENANTERS  OF  SCOTLAND,  40 

MASON'S  (Dr.  John)  Essays  on  the  Church, 60 

MATHEWS'  Bible  and  Civil  Government.     12mo, 1  00 

McCOSH  on  the  Divine  Government,  Physical  and  Moral,..  2  00 

McCRIK'DELL— The  Convent.    A  Narrative.     18mo, 50 

McCHEYNE'S  (Rev.  Robert  Murray)  Works.    2  vols,  8vo,  3  00 

Life,  Lectures,  and  Letters.    Separate, 1  50 

Sermons.    Separate,. 2  00 

Familiar  Letters  from  the  Holy  Land.  18mo, 50 

McFARLANE— The  Mountains  of  the  Bible.    Illustrated,.  75 

Do.                              do.                            do.           gilt,  1  00 

Me GHE E ' S  (Rev.  R.  J.)  Lectures  on  the  Ephesians.  8 vo, . . .  2  00 

McGILVRAY'S  Peace  in  Believing, 25 

McLEOD'S  Life  and  Power  of  True  Godliness, 60 

McCLELLAND  (Prof,  Alex.)  on  the  Canon  Interpretation 

of  Scripture, 75 

ME IKLE'S  Solitude  Sweetened.    12mo, 60 

MENTEATH— Lays  of  the  Kirk  and  Covenant.    Illustra- 
ted.    IGnio, 75 

Po.                                do.                           do.           gilt,  1  00 

MILLER  (Hugh)— The  Geology  of  the  Bass  Rock.  Illustrated.  75 

MILLER'S  (Rev.  Dr.  Samuel)  Memoir  of  Rev.  Dr.  Nisbet,  7g 

(Rev.  John)  Design  of  the  Church.     12mo, 60 

MICHAEL  KEMP,  the  Farmer's  Lad.    18mo, 40 

MISSIONS,  the  Origin  and  History  of.   25  steel  plates.    4to,  3  50 

MOFFATT'S  Southern  Africa.    12mo,, 75 

MONOD'S  Lucilla;  or,  the  Reading  of  the  Bible.    18mo,..  40 

M ORE'S  (Hannah)  Private  Devotion.    Large  type,  18mo,.  50 

Do.                   do.                      do.                               gilt,  75 

Do.                  do.                      do.   small  edition,  32mo,  20 

Do.                  do.                      do.               "              gilt,  30 

MORELL'S  History  of  Modern  Philosophy.    8vo, 3  00 

MORNING  OF  LIFE.     18mo, 40 

MTJRPHEY'S  Bible  and  Geology  Consistent, 100 

MY  SCHOOL-BOY  DAYS.     18mo.    Illustrated, 30 

MY  YO'JTHFUL  COMPANIONS.     18mo.    Illustrated,  30 


OAETEES7    PUBLICATIONS. 


The  above  two  bound  in  one  vol.  illustrated, 50 

MY  GRANDFATHER  G-REG-ORY.    Illustrated, 25 

MY    GRANDMOTHER  GILBERT.            do.  25 

NEWTON'S  (Rev.  John)  Works.    2  vols.  in  one.    Portrait,  2  00 

Memoir  of  M.  Magdalen  Jasper.    18mo, 30 

NEW  COBWEBS  TO  CATCH  LITTLE  FLIES.  Illus- 
trated.    IGmo,  square,  50 

NOEL'S  Infant  Piety.    18mo, 25 

OLMSTE D ' S  Thoughts  and  Counsels  for  the  Impenitent, . .  50 

OLD  WHITE  MEETING-HOUSE.     18mo, 40 

OLD  HUMPHREY'S  Observations, 40 

Addresses, 40 

Thoughts  for  the  Thoughtful, 40 

Walks  in  London, 40 

Homely  Hints, .- 40 

Country  Strolls, 40 

—  Old  Sea  Captain, 40 

Grandparents, 40 

Isle  of  Wight, 40 

Pithy  Papers, 40 

Pleasant  Tales.    Illustrated, 40 

North  American  Indians, 40 

OPIE  on  Lying.    New  Edition,  18mo,  illustrated, 40 

OSBORNE  (Mrs.)— Tho  World  of  Waters;  or,  a  Peaceful 

Progress  o'er  the  Unpathed  Sea.  Illustrated.  IGmo, 75 

Do.  do.  do.  gilt,  1  00 

OWEN  on  Spiritual  Mindedness.  12mo, 60 

P ALE Y'  S  Hone  Paulinas.  12mo, 75 

PASCAL'S  Provincial  Letters.  New  edition.  Edited  by 

Dr.  McCrie.  12mo, 100 

PASTOR'S  DAUGHTER.  By  Louisa  Payson  Hopkins, ..  40 

PATTERS  ON  on  the  Assembly's  Sliorter  Catechism, 50 

PEEP  OF  DAY.  New  edition, 30 

LINE  UPON  LINE.  New  edition, 30 

PRECEPT  ON  PRECEPT.  New  edition, 30 

PIKE 'S'  True  Happiness.  18mo, 30 

Divine  Origin  of  Christianity.  ISmo, 30 

PHILIP'S  Devotional  Guides.  2  vols.  12mo, 1  50 

Young  Man's  Closet  Library, 75 

Marys,  or  the  Beauty  of  Female  Holiness, 40 

. Marthas,  or  the  Varieties  of  Female  Piety, 40 

Lydias,  or  the  Development  of  Female  Character,.. ..  40 


10 


CARTEKS     PUBLICATIONS. 


PHILIP'S  Hannahs,  or  Maternal  Influences  on  Sons, 40 

—-  Love  of  Hie  Spirit, '•  •  •  W  ^ 

POLLOK'S  Course  of  Time.  Elegant  od.  I6mo.  Portrait,  100 

Do.  do.  •  gilt,  extra,  1  50 

Do.  do.  Turkey  morocco,  gilt,  2  00 

Do.  do.  ISmo.  small  copy,  close  type,  40 

—  Life,  Letters,  and  Remains.  By  the  Rev.  Jas.  Scott,  DD.,  1  00 
Tales  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters.    Illustrated.   16mo,  75 

Do.                              do.                              do.             gilt,  1  00 

-  Helen  of  the  Glen.    18mo.    Illustrated, 25 

Persecuted  Family.        "               "            25 

Ralph  Gemmell.             «'               "            25 

PORTE  US' Lectures  on  Matthew.    12mo, 60 

POWERSOOTT'S  (Lady)  Letters.    12mo, 75 

PSALMS  IN  HEBREW.     32mo,  gilt, 50 

RETROSPECT  (The).    By  Aliquis.    ISmo, 40 

RICHMOND'S  Domestic  Portraiture.    Edited  by  Bicker- 

steth.    New  and  elegant  edition,  illustrated.    16mo,  75 

Do.                              do.                               do.           gilt,  1  00 

—  Annals  of  the  Poor.    18mo, 40 

ROGERS' Jacob's  Well.    18mo, 40 

ROMAINE  on  Faith.    12mo, 60 

• Letters.    12mo, , . . . 60 

ROWLAND'S  (Rev.  H.  A.)  Common  Maxims  of  Infidelity,  75 

RUTHERFORD'S  Letters.    With  Life  by  Bonar, .".  1  50 

RYLE  V  Living  or  Dead  ?    A  Series  of  Home  Truths.    16mo,  75 

SCOTT'S  Force  of  Truth.    18mo, 25 

SCOUG-AL'S  Works.    18mo, 40 

SELECT  WORKS  of  James,  Venn,  Wilson,  Philip,  and  Jay,  1  50 

SELECT  CHRISTIAN  AUTHORS.    2voK8vo, 200 

SB  RLE 'S  Christian  Remembrancer.    24mo,  gilt, 50 

SINNER'S  FRIEND.     18mo, 25 

SIG-OURNEY'S  (Mrs.  L.  H.;  Water  Drops.  Illustrated,  l*mo,  75 

Do.  do.  do,  gilt,  1  00 
Letters  to  my  Pupils.  With  Portrait.  16mo, 75 

Do.  do.  do.  gilt,  1  00 
Olive  Leaves.  Illustrated.  16mo, 75 

Do.  do.  do.  gilt,  I  00 

• Boys'  Book.  Illustrated.  18mo, 40 

Girls'  Book.  "  "  40 

—  Child's  Book.  "  "  square, 35 

SINCLAIR'S  Modern  Accomplishments, 75 

j 


CARTERS'  PUBLICATIONS.  II 

SINCLAIR'S  Modern  Society, -     75 

-  Charlie  Seym oTir.    18mo.    Illustrated, 30 

SIMEON'S  LIFE.     By  Cams.    With  Portrait.    8vo, 200 

SMITH' S  (Rev.  James)  Green  Pastures  for  the  Lord's  flock.  1  00  « 

Do.                              do.                              do.            gilt,  1  25 

SMYTH'S  Pereaved  Parents  Consoled.    12mo, 75 

SORROWING-  YET  REJOICING.  .  18mo, 30 

Do.                             do.                      32mo,  gilt, .  30 

SPRING' S  (Re.v.  DrOMemoirs  of  the  late  Hannah  L.Murray,  1  50 

STEVENSON'S  Christ  on  the  Cross.    12rno, 75 

Lord  our  Shepherd.    12mo, 60 

SUMNER'S  Exposition  of  Matthew  and  Mark.    12mo, 75 

SUDD ARDS' British  Pulpit.    2  vols.  8vo, 300 

S  YMINGT ON  on  the  Atonement.    12mo, 75 

TACITUS' Works  Translated.    Edited  by  Murphy.    8vo,..  200 

TAYLOR'S  (Jane)  Hymns  for  Infant  Minds,    square,  illust.  40      • 

Limed  Twigs  to  Catch  Young  Birds.    Square,  illust. ..  50 

—  Life  and  Correspondence.    18mo, 40 

Contributions  of  Q.  Q.   With  eight  tinted  illustrations,  1  CO 

Do.                                do.                             do.         gilt,  1  25 

Display,  a  Tale.    18mo, 30 

Mother  and  Daughter, 30 

Essays  in  Rhyme.    18mo, 30 

^ Original  Poems  and  Poetical  Remains.    Illustrated.  40 

(Isaac)  Loyola ;  or,  Jesuitism  in  its  Rudiments, 1  00 

—  Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm.    12mo, 75 

(Jeremy)  Sermons.    Complete  in  one  vol.  8vo, 1  50 

(Thomas)  Life  of  Hannah  More, 60 

TENNENT'S  Life.    32mo,  gilt, 25 

THOLUCK'S  Circle  of  Human  Life.    18mo, 30 

TURRETINE'S  Complete  Works,  in  the  original  Latin. 

THE  THEOLOGICAL  SKETCH  BOOK.    2  vols., 3  00 

THUCYDIDES' History  of  the  Peloponnesian  War.    8vo,  125 
TUCKER— The  Rainbow  in  the  North.    A  short  account  of 

the  first  establishment  of  Christianity  in  Rupert's  Land. 

Illustrated.    16mo, 75 


Do.  do.  do.  gilt, 

TURNBULL'S  Genius  of  Scotland.    Illustrated.    16mo,. . . 


Pulpit  Orators  of  France  and  Switzerland, . 


TYNG-'S  Lectures  on  the  Law  and  Gospel.    With  Portrait, 


Christ  is  All.    8vo.    With  Portrait,. 
Israel  of  God.    8vo,  enlarged  edition, , 


12  CARTERS'  PUBLICATIONS. 

T  YNG '  S  Recollections  of  England.    12mo, 1  00 

A  Lamb  from  the  Flock.     18mo, 25 

WATEEBURY'S  Book  for  the  Sabbath.    18mo, 40 

WATJGH— Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Waugh,  D.D.     By 

Drs.  ITji.y  and  Belfrage.    12mo, 1  00 

WEEK  (The)— Comprising  the  Last  Day  of  the  Week,  the 
First  Day  of  the  Week,  and  the  Week  Completed.  Illustra- 
ted. 16mo, 75 

Do.                             do.                                do.           gilt,  1  00 

WHATELY'S  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  Errors  of  Romanism,  75 

WHITECROSS'S  Anecdotes  on  the  Assembly's  Catechism,  30 

WHITE1  S  (Hugh)  Meditation  on  Prayer.    18mo, 40 

Believer ;  a  Series  of  Discourses.    18mo, 40 

— —  Practical  Reflections  on  the  Second  Advent.    18mo,..  40 

—  (Henry  Kirke)  Complete  Works.    Life  by  Southey,  1  50 

WILBERFORCE'S(Wm.)PracticalView,largetype,12mo,  1  00 

Do.                              do.                                do.            gilt,  1  25 

WILLIAMS,  (Rev.  John,)  Missionary  to  Polynesia,  Life  of,  1  00 

WILSON'S  Lights  and  Shadows  of  Scottish  Life.    16mo. 

Illustrated  from  original  drawings, 75 

Do.                              do.                              do.  1  00 

WINER'S  Idioms  of  the  Language  of  the  New  Testament,  2  50 

WINSLOW  on  Personal  Declension  and  Revival, 60 

Midnight  Harmonies  ;  or,  Thoughts  for  the  Season  of 

Solitude  and  Sorrow.    16mo, *6P 

WILLIS  ON' S  Sacramental  Meditations  and  Advices.  18mo,  50 

W  YL  IE 'S  Journey  over  the  Region  of  Fulfilled  Prophecy,  30 

XENOPHON'S  Whole  Works.    Translated, 2  00 

YOUNG-'S  Night  Thoughts.  16mo,  large  type,  with  Portrait,  1  00 

Do.                         do.                                       extra  gilt,  1  50 

Do.                         do.                    Turkey  morocco,  gilt,  2  00 

Do.                        do.                          18mo,  close  type,  40 


YB 


55! 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


